Slave Magic
by Laughers song
Summary: In the world of witches and wizards slavery is cast upon those who are either too poor to pull themselves out of debt or are muggle born. Ginny and her family found themselves upon hard. Finding herself in the life of a slave she struggles to survive and
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Harry Potter, JK Rowlings does. I am a poor college student. I have no money, save the one-dollar bill in my wallet. But that might not last much longer.

AN: My grammer is rather bad, but I'm working on it. Please do not point out stupid mistakes like comma errors. I know I make them and unless you can magicially heal them, then don't meantion them.

Chapter One On the Stage 

Inside the auction hall the air was filled with calls of buys trying to get the goods that were being bartered off. The building had not been spelled to keep cool. The wizards in charge had told the slaves that they were not permitted the luxury of such things.

Ginny huddled up against the mass of people she had been thrown into earlier in the day. Sweat trickled down her face as she sat, straining to hear who was coming and going. Her last owner had gotten rid of her when she had attempted to kill him with his own wand. Considering the fight she had put up before being rudely dragged to the auction. The traders had blindfolded her.

Her fellow slaves were whispering around her. Unlike Ginny, most of them had not been deprived of seeing. They were able to see who was bidding on them. Most of the girls that surrounded her were chattering softly about a 'cute white haired boy' in the crowd. They were all hoping that if he was as kind as he was handsome then they might be able to earn their freedom.

A slave being freed was very rare. Only one slave had earned such been able to break through the bonds of slavery. All Ginny knew was the slave had been female, and it had happened just shy of twenty years ago. Slave rumors had never been of concern of Ginny's until she had been sold five years ago when she was twelve. Her family had fallen on hard times. And in the whorl wind of activities that had happened Ginny and three of her older brothers had been taken in the middle of the night. What had happened to her brothers, Ginny didn't know.

"Get up you," a gruff voice commanded Ginny. Struggling to get to her feet Ginny felt her chains being tugged at. The trader was having problems disconnecting her bonds from the girls around her. Given the moment of distraction Ginny took it to her advantage. Pulling the chains around her wrist closer to her causing the trader to trip over the chains that were by his feet.

The girls who surrounded Ginny stifled their laughter. If she hadn't been blindfolded Ginny knew the man would be sending the girls glares. The tough men hated to be made fools of especially by what they considered weak female slaves.

"Fucking whores," the trader mumbled under his breath. Quickly he got to his feet and ever so gently dragged Ginny towards the auction stage. As she tried to dig her feet into the wood floor of the auction building the rusted chains dug into Ginny's porcelain skin. The traders were never gentle when they were getting a slave to the auction stage.

Ginny knew she was on the stage when she heard a slight murmur of male voices. The female slaves were kept separate from the male slaves. Not like it made a difference when they were all chained up. There was a slight smell of smoke in the air. The auctioneer had the tendency of smoking a cigar as he rattled off bidding prices. If Ginny remembered correctly the man was a fat, timid man who had was good at talking quickly.

"All right," droned the auctioneer, "Here we have a fine specimen, lively young girl not a day older than seventeen. She's a natural redhead men, got a temper to go with her. Behind the blindfold are coffee colored eyes, just in case you're wondering. Bidding starts at 25 galleons."

As the men started to call out prices Ginny blocked out the voices as tears started to form in her eyes. In the past five years she had been up on the auctioneer's block six times. With her temper she had never managed to stay in one place for more than a year.

"One hundred galleons," a voice called out. The room went dead silent as the bidding stopped. "Final offer," the man snapped.

"Sold!" declared the auctioneer without another word spoken. Ginny guessed the man who had bought her was someone not to be dealt with. Probably some pureblood wizard who was used to having everything handed to him on a silver platter.

As she was dragged off the stage and to her new master Ginny shivered. She did not have a good feeling about who had just bought her. Then again, all the owners Ginny had previously were abusive. A hand made its way onto Ginny's back causing her to jump a little.

"I see you didn't manage to escape slavery," a soft voice hissed in her ear, "I always knew you Weasels would never amount to anything. Now look they have to sell off their only daughter to make ends meet."

"You," Ginny gasped.

"Yes me. How are you dear Ginvera?" the man asked in a sugarcoated voice. Started to struggle a bit more, a strong hand grasped the back of Ginny's neck. "If I were you I wouldn't make any sudden movements. Wouldn't want to hurt yourself quite yet."

"Let go of me Draco," Ginny snarled as she struggled against her new owner.

"I don't think so my dear. After all I do own your sorry ass my dear," chuckled Draco, "Well technically my dearest father does, but since you're so young and pure. I don't think my father would mind me taking advantage of you."

"Still the same egotistical, sex crazed bastard that I remember from childhood," snapped Ginny. Draco tensed at what Ginny said. He hadn't expected her to remember that far back. Most slaves lost parts of their memories due to beatings. A majority of the pureblood's found it necessary to beat their slaves using magic. Most of the time the Crucio curse that was used on slaves. Ginny had the pleasure of experience the curse first hand and on several occasions.

"What's wrong with that?" Draco demanded. Groaning Ginny winced at Draco's stupidity. In response to her wordless comment Draco's hand tightened around the back of Ginny's neck.

"Who really wants to be in the same room as a man who cares only about himself? And if he's not talking about himself, he's talking about sex. It's a total turn off," Ginny explained, "It's not even like you're good looking."

"Well Weasel at least I can say I look better than you ever will. Red hair is not something you can easily get rid of," sneered Draco. Knowing it was best not to say anything else to Draco, Ginny stayed silent for the rest of the way to the Malfoy Manor.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer**: Yet again, I do not own Harry Potter. Unless I somehow manage to buy Rowling out, it won't happen. And seeing as I still have my ONE dollar bill in my wallet, that won't happen anytime soon.

A/N I got this up and posted as soon as possible. Shout out to 2insantiesin1 who offered to beta, I appreciate it. And I am an honors college student, yes honors, shoot me. Which means I'm a bit busier than one would expect say, a high school student to be. Just all depends on the day and how long I put off things. Like my English essay… I need to have it done by 9:30 tomorrow… I want my teacher to proof it. So that means I get to go find sources tonight. I'm going to die!

I digress. I will get my chapters posted ASAP. So please be patient. I hope that I won't go longer than a week between postings. Also, I am leaving my wonderful University for this weekend. I get to go visit my brother, yay for family weekends! So I don't know when my next chapter shall appear up. I hope before the weekend, seeing I will have two hours to wait until my parents can possibly appear at my door room.

Chapter Two _Meeting the Help and Explaining Stories_

Two lovely weeks had passed since Ginny had arrived at the Malfoy Manor. In those two weeks she had seen Draco once, and only once. It had been the day that Draco left for his boarding school.

Hogwarts was a prestigious school for the magically talented purebloods. The headmaster of the school, Lord Voldemort, refused to let anyone who had an eighth of muggle in them into the school. From some of the free half bloods there was a movement to get a man named Albus Dumbledore into the position of headmaster, just so half bloods could receive the same education as the purebloods.

Mrs. Malfoy had kept Ginny busy with household chores, such as cleaning and washing the laundry. Being the only girl in a large family Ginny knew how to do such chores already. Not that she voiced her opinion about them being easy. In her opinion being forced to clean out the basement, which had dust from a century ago, was not easy.

There was one other slave in the household to Ginny's knowledge. She had seen a bushy brown haired female the day she had arrived, but she had not yet managed to talk with her. The Malfoys didn't need to buy many slaves, for they had a few house elves running among the house to do a majority of the chores. Having slaves made pureblood families look wealthier. Slaves needed more food and clothing than the mere house elves did.

Creeping up the stairs Ginny looked around for the house elves. They were usually busy scurrying about trying to complete a task Mrs. Malfoy had commanded them to do. Considering the house elves found the slaves slow workers they rarely talked to them, or at least rarely talked to Ginny.

"What is Miss Ginny doing? She shouldn't be up here. Oh no. Mistress Malfoy would not be happy!" a female house elf twittered as she caught sight of Ginny. Rolling her eyes Ginny started to walk around the first floor. She had just finished dusting the years of dust from the basement and Mrs. Malfoy had not given her any more instructions for the day.

"Where the bloody hell is she?" Ginny mumbled to herself. She was now in the sitting room, where Mrs. Malfoy was usually found. The Manor was three stories high, not including the basement or attic. Being a slave Ginny was not allowed to go up to the higher floors unless she had permission.

"Mrs. Malfoy went out with her husband," a soft voice answered. Scared that someone had answered her question Ginny jumped before she turned around. Behind her was the bushy haired girl that she has spied the first day she had been at the Manor. The girl was almost as thin as Ginny was, but she was at least half a head taller than her.

"Um hi?"

"Oh! How utterly rude of me!" the brown hair girl exclaimed, "I'm Hermione, Hermione Granger. Muggle born you see, that's why I'm here. Well not exactly why I'm here, but why I'm a slave… I'm rambling, sorry."

Staring at Hermione for a moment, Ginny broke out into peals of laughter. It had been years since another girl had spoken to her like an equal. That was something Ginny was grateful for.

"I'm Ginny Weasley, a fellow slave I guess."

"Well it's nice to have another female in the house," Hermione said brightly.

Nodding Ginny sat herself down in one of the cushy armchairs that were in the sitting room. Since Mrs. Malfoy was out with her husband it would be dark by the time the two got back to the house. Or at least that was how it usually worked out.

"It's nice to have a break," sighed Ginny as she looked out of the large bay window. Hermione nodded in agreement as she sat down in another chair. "So how long have you been here?"

"The Malfoy's have owned me since it was discovered I could do magic. So, seven years I believe. Years just blend together," Hermione replied, "From what other slaves have said this is one of the better places to be."

"Where's the best place?" Ginny asked tartly. Through her years of being sold around few slaves would comment about where they had been owned, much less praise where their last owners.

"Either with the Potters or one of the Blacks. Don't know which Black though, that's a rather large family to try to keep track of. Sometimes one of the Blacks come here, I think it's Regulus Black. But I'm never allowed out of the kitchens when visitors come over. I haven't heard where you don't want to end up. The Malfoys aren't planning on selling me anytime soon. So I'm not going to worry about who I don't want to buy me when I don't need to," explained Hermione.

"You don't want to end up with Voldemort, his slaves never last more than a month with how much he beats them. I've heard that ending up slave to Bella is a death wish. Other than those two anyone else is just a bit better but not by much. There are a few purebloods that refuse to take slaves. But those few usually do nothing to help the witches and wizards who find themselves in slavery."

"How would you know?"

"Because I'm a pureblood."

"Oh, sorry," Hermione mumbled. A calm silence fell over the room as Ginny stared out the window trying not to remember her childhood. In being a slave it was best not to recall what had happened before the traders placed the bonds on you. There were too many emotions connected with freedom that one didn't want to remember.

"I was only twelve when I was made a slave. My family owed money to the Minister of Magic and apparently he wanted it at the very moment he came to our house to tell my parents they were in debt. Without any warning Fudge ordered his men to take my brothers and me. Only three out of six of my brothers were home at the time Fudge came. The three oldest were either out of country or at their job. They didn't have to run away from those horrid men," Ginny said as she continued to look at the window. "I think my brother Percy ended up offending the minister and he wanted to deliver a blow to him that he'd never forget."

"So Minister Fudge thought he could harm your brother by taking four of his siblings and selling them off into slavery?" Hermione asked, "What did he do that was so bad to have Fudge order people to be sold as slaves?"

Ginny shrugged as tears started to drip down her face. Percy had been the pride of the family. He had graduated from Hogwarts a perfect, and head of his class. When he had announced he had gotten accepted to work as an intern during his final year of Hogwarts for the Ministry of Magic when he was just seventeen, her parents had been happy for him. Not that they favored him out of all their children. Percy was the only one who really made an effort to show how hard he worked.

Bill and Charlie had moved away from their family as soon as they could. The two oldest Weasley children had needed their freedom from their overprotective mother. Bill worked in Egypt breaking curses, while Charlie was over in Romania tending to his beloved fire-breathing dragons. The twins, Fred and George, were the only two children that Mrs. Weasley had worried about. To her it didn't seem like they were doing anything but occasionally blowing up things in their room. Ron and Ginny had both been too young for their mother to worry about where they would be going in life. And when Percy had angered Fudge after the first month of working in the Ministry life seemed to end.

"There are rumors of a slave who ended up escaping. Did you ever hear of that?" inquired Hermione as the silence got too much for her to handle. Whipping away tears from her eyes, Ginny smiled at her fellow companion.

"I've only heard whispers," Ginny answered truthfully. Snorting Hermione sat up quickly. Rolling her eyes Ginny had a feeling she was going to be getting a history lesson.

"Rumors have it that a slave under the ownership of the Blacks. The eldest Black child and Potter boy were really good friends. The two liked to trick the slaves in the house. Now the Blacks only owned one female slave. She was a Muggle born witch, and that as we know is enough to send one into the wonderful world of servitude. Story goes that the Potter boy took a liking to the girl, or well it was a little more of a liking. When he came of age at 17, the Blacks sold the girl to him," Hermione explained, "The girl was none too happy about the situation. Mind you the Potters did not own any slaves before the boy bought the Blacks female slave. The slaves at the Black estate heard months later that their fellow slave was pregnant and had been freed. Nothing else was ever mentioned of her. They think that the girl had ended up getting pregnant and the Potters had let her free. If she was wise she went out of country to another place that doesn't have the Muggle Magic Laws in place."

"So the slaves think if they get pregnant by a pureblood or other free wizard that they'll be given their freedom?" Ginny asked uncertainly. Hermione nodded. Thinking the theory over a bit, Ginny commented, "There is some flaw with that. Purebloods get slave girls pregnant all the time and nothing is done. If the half blood child is male the father sometimes will take claim to the child, but that's rare. That slave girl had to have found some loophole that no one else has thought of yet."

"I've looked through all the books that are in the Malfoy library about slaves. None mention how to free a slave," Hermione sighed.

"Well, we can think it over while we are doing our chores. I just remembered I didn't dust under everything in the basement. Mrs. Malfoy won't be happy knowing I took a pause in my work because I assumed I had made all the dust disappear. I'm sure you have things you need done," moaned Ginny. There were many discarded pieces of furniture in the basement. Ginny had realized that the dust bunnies could be hiding underneath there, and that required moving some of the furniture around.

"Oh dear!" Hermione exclaimed as she jumped up from the chair, "I almost forgot about the roast in the oven. The Malfoys will not be happy if I manage to burn it to a crisp!" As Hermione dashed into the kitchen to save the precious meat; Ginny slowly made her way back down into the basement to finish with her dusting.

**Review Responses:**

Ghilliekitten: Glad you liked the story. And congrats on being the first reviewer. If I could email you a cookie I would, but I found out the hard way that doesn't work. And I can promise you that I am going to update as soon as I have time each time I post.

Shining Bright Eyes: I can tell you it's not going to turn into a D/G. As much as I don't mind the whole Draco, Ginny kind of thing I refuse to write it.

Tawa bids you good day: Thanks for the review. I did manage to answer some of your questions in the story. The where they are now one is going to be answered later on. I can't reveal all the details to the story, it kinda kills the plot. I'm glad my language didn't bother you. When I write I tend to stay away from swearing. It just doesn't register in my mind unless it would occur naturally in the conversation.

kgk89: As you'll see in Shining Bright Eyes' comment, it won't be D/G. And thanks for all the other compliments your review contained.

SnowflakeGinny: Sorry to have confused you. It won't be Draco/Ginny I will tell you that.

night animal: Well I hope my grammar is better in this chapter. It was betaed after all. If not I'm sorry, when I read things they don't always end up being clear that they don't make sense until about a week later.

The Queen C: I updated as soon as I possibly could. Hope you enjoyed the chapter.

2InsanitiesIn1: Special thanks to you since you offered to beta. You got to read this chapter before it went up.

Amrawo: Thanks for reviewing. I hope you liked this chapter.


	3. Chapter 3

_Disclaimer_: So not mine. I still just have that one-dollar bill in my wallet, and I found some lottery tickets that I won money on, so I have them too. Not enough to buy the copyrights for Harry Potter.

A/N Sorry this took so long! I had a busy end of the week and weekend. I was out of town over the weekend and I had a bunch of test and assignments to finish before that. Hopefully I will be able to get the next chapter done quicker.

**Chapter Three**

The pitter-patter of tiny raindrops sounded against the Malfoy Manor's roof. While outside it might have been gloomy, inside the manor was bustling with activity. Draco was expected home in the evening, according to Mrs. Malfoy everything had to be perfect. Everything in the house had to be dusted and polished. If something wasn't done correctly not only was there yelling throughout the house, the person usually had to re-clean the whole room they were in.

Ginny was in the kitchen with Hermione, helping her with cooking. Mrs. Malfoy had sent Ginny to the kitchen after she had accidentally knocked a picture off the wall. For such a wealthy pureblood family, the Malfoys had a small kitchen. Ginny and Hermione could comfortably work in the small space, but when Mrs. Malfoy came in to watch them, things got a bit tight.

"Hermione, why are we cooking so much?" Ginny inquired, "It's only Draco who's coming home, he can't possibly eat this much." The pot of potato soup Hermione was making was enough to feed at least ten people. Not to mention there were various finger foods that Ginny had prepared.

"Draco is probably bringing friends over. He does that occasionally when he drops by," Hermione sighed, "They aren't exactly what you would call nice."

"Nice? Draco nice? Are we talking about the same boy?" demanded Ginny sarcastically, "The blond haired, pale, boy who kinda resembles a ferret! Because he's not what one would consider nice. More like a demanding, egoistical asshole." For a moment Ginny stopped mixing up the pudding she had been preparing, waiting for a response from Hermione.

"Shhh… You don't want Mrs. Malfoy to hear you talking about her son that way," Hermione chastised, "I can imagine Draco being much worse than the git he is, don't complain. I'm grateful he doesn't beat us, or rather just you, you've got some mouth on you, not to mention a tempter." Going back to the pudding Ginny ignored the point Hermione made.

The two settled into a rhythm of cooking in the silence. When Hermione finished with the soup, she moved on to making a tart. In turn Ginny started to wash the many dishes that had piled up. Scrubbing the dishes to let out her frustration worked well for Ginny. The dishes turned out very clean by the time Ginny would realize that she had almost washed glaze off the ceramic pieces. Though it would have been more time efficient to wash the dishes with magic, slaves were not allowed to use wands of any type. There was too much a slave could do wrong when they were granted use of a wand.

The serene silence was broken as Mrs. Malfoy stepped into the kitchen. At the sudden change in the environment Ginny lost the grip she had on a pan, accidentally letting it fall back into the murky water that had once been filled with soapsuds. Hermione was more use to Mrs. Malfoy's unexpected presence, and placed the tart into oven before looking up at her mistress.

"Draco has informed me that he will be bringing three classmates home from school so that they can work on some sort of project or another. These three classmates all come from prominent pureblood families. Therefore you will both need to change into the clothes that I have left on your cots within the half hour," Mrs. Malfoy said coldly. Ginny and Hermione nodded, indicating that they understood what Mrs. Malfoy was saying. Satisfied Mrs. Malfoy turned to walk out of the small kitchen. Halfway out the door she turned, remembering something that she still had to say. "Ginny you will be serving the boys their food. I expect you to be presentable. And on your best behavior if you know what's good for you." Without another word Mrs. Malfoy disappeared out of the room, leaving a stunned Hermione and a rather pissed off Ginny.

"Well, lucky you," Hermione chuckled as she saw Ginny's face quickly turning a vivid shade of red. "I haven't got the honors of serving any guests."

"She's only doing that because she knows it's insulting to me. Purebloods never do any work if they can't help it. May I remind you I am still pureblood, it's demeaning! How could this get any worse?" seethed Ginny. With a newfound vigor, she reached into the dirty water to retrieve the dish she had dropped when Mrs. Malfoy had walked into the kitchen.

"You could have to wear a French maid's outfit when you serve them," joked Hermione. Stopping for a moment, Ginny slowly turned to face Hermione, glaring at her friend. Shrugging Hermione started to put the dried dishes away.

"Fine," moaned Ginny, "It could be worse!" With those words the dish she had in her hands fell into the dirty water, splashing up into her face. Hermione stifled a giggle as it happened, not wanting to anger Ginny any more.

"I give up!" Ginny sighed defeated, "You win dish, and you hear that? You can stay in the dirty water for as long as you like. I'm not going to do anything about it."

"I'll be able to finish up in here," Hermione said, "Go get changed and wash up a bit. You'll need the time to get prepared. After all Draco does have some good looking classmates." A small smile crept upon Ginny's face as Hermione reminded her there was a slightly bright side to the situation. Tossing the washcloth into the empty side of the sink, Ginny quickly walked away from the dishes.

Not even a half hour later, Ginny was dressed in the long black skirt and black shirt that Mrs. Malfoy had left for the girls. Over the all black attire Ginny had her white apron around her waist. With Hermione doing the dishes she had enough time to wash her face of all the bits of food that had flown up to her face when she was cooking. Hermione had come into the room a short time after Ginny had left to get herself ready. Ginny was now struggling with her hair to get it into a suitable looking French braid; her hair was currently in a messy knot on her head.

"Want some help?" Hermione offered as she walked out of the small bathroom the two shared. Crossing her arms against her chest, Ginny nodded. Walking over Hermione picked up Ginny's discarded brush, quickly working out the knot and forcing Ginny's hair into a simple looking French braid.

Looking into the shattered mirror that graced the wall Ginny smiled at what Hermione accomplished. Hermione quickly threw her hair up into a messy bun. She wasn't worried about how she looked, knowing she was going to be in the kitchen the entire time.

"We need to get downstairs now," Ginny noted as she saw what time was on the old grandfather clock in the room. The clock no longer chimed at the hour like it was supposed to and one of the hands on it didn't move. Glancing at the clock, Hermione's eyes widened. Without a word she rushed down the stairs, followed closely by Ginny. When the two came to the bottom of the stairs Hermione rushed to the kitchen, while Ginny headed to front door. She had been instructed to wait there to open the door. Mrs. Malfoy had wanted everything perfect for her only child. She had lectured the girls while they were dressing, and then left to go reapply makeup.

While waiting for someone to come up the walk before opening the front door Ginny fidgeted with her skirt, trying to get the thing to look a little straighter. It was a futile effort; the skirt seemed to have a mind of its own. Brushing a stray strand of hair out of her face, Ginny looked out the small peak hole of the door to see four young men walking up the drive.

Giving her skirt one last tug to straighten it out, Ginny opened the door. Sneering, Draco was the first to walk in, followed by two large boys who paid Ginny little attention. From her short time at Hogwarts Ginny recognized the boys as Gregory Goyle and Vincent Crabbe. The last boy to walk in the door was someone Ginny never remembered seeing at Hogwarts. His messy black hair fellow over his eyes, which he was currently trying to brush away. Not wanting anymore cold air to come into the house Ginny shut the door as the last boy shuffled into the Malfoy Manor.

"Thank you," the young man said quietly as he turned around to face Ginny. After securing the door shut, Ginny turned to face him. As she did so, she froze, the boy's emerald green eyes stopped her from doing anything more. Ginny vaguely remember seeing those eyes when she had spent her short time at Hogwarts, but she couldn't place them.

"Oh, you're welcome. Just doing my job," Ginny muttered. Smiling the boy walked after Draco and his two henchmen, leaving Ginny to herself. Knowing she had only moments before her presence was required in the dining room, Ginny hurried to the kitchen.

"So who did he bring home this time?" Hermione asked as Ginny flew through the kitchen door. She was adjusting the flame on the stove, attempting to keep the potato soup warm.

"Crabbe and Goyle, if you know who they are." Rolling her eyes Hermione nodded. "Then some boy who I recognizes, but I don't really know who he is," Ginny said dreamily.

"So the boy you recognized is quite a looker, huh?" teased Hermione. Turning a deep scarlet color Ginny grabbed a tray of appetizers out to the boys. Laughing at her friend's embarrassment Hermione returned to trying to keep the soup from burning the bottom of the pan.

By the time Ginny entered the dining room her face had returned to its normal cream color. The four boys had not entered the dining room yet. They were off in one of the rooms that were situated off of the room. Placing the appetizers on the table Ginny could hear some of the conversation. For a moment she debated whether she wanted to stop and listen or hurry back to the kitchen. In the end she decided to see what the boys were talking about.

"So what are we going to do the project on?" Goyle asked.

"What was the assignment again?" came Crabbe's voice. Ginny had to giggle, remembering how stupid those two were. They were all muscle, and very little brain. There had been many debates amongst the girls at Hogwarts on the topic.

"We're supposed to list the pros and cons of having half bloods at Hogwarts. Lord Voldemort will let more of the half bloods in if people come up with good enough reasons," Draco explained, "Like that will ever happen." Tensing, Ginny refrained from rushing into the room and severely hurting Draco for thinking he was better than those people who were partially Muggle.

Rethinking the statement, Ginny sat down. Draco had said Voldemort would let more half bloods in. When Ginny had been at Hogwarts there was only one half blood in attendance, and it had been kept quiet. Rumors were that one person in the Ravenclaw house was the half blood. Even then, the test the half blood had to complete to enter into Hogwarts was a nearly impossible one. All the teachers at Hogwarts had a hand in creating the test. Ginny's older brothers Fred and George had completed a form of the half blood entrance exam when they had been caught sneaking potions ingredients out of Snape's cupboards. The twins had received various injuries from dueling one of the professors, though they claimed they couldn't remember who it was.

"At least we still have the entrance test," Crabbe said, breaking Ginny out of her train of thought.

"Yes, but it doesn't keep all the half bloods out," seethed Draco.

"I feel welcome here," another voice stated sarcastically. Ginny instantly perked up, she wanted to know whom the boy she didn't recognize was.

"Potter, my dear," Draco sneered, "We all forgot you were a filthy half blood."

"And I forgot I was in the presence of a bastard," Potter retorted. Stifling a giggle, Ginny got up to go get more food. From the sound of it, the boys were going to have a long night of arguing. At least Ginny and Hermione would be entertained with the boy's stupidity.

Review responses

**Tawa bids you a good day**: Betas are really nice. Lily was the one I was referring to in chapter two, good for you for guessing it. As for what Hermione said about slaves, don't you just love when you have an idea, then it leaves and another one comes along? Yeah, that's defiantly what happened there. Though, I can answer it. While slaves might be considered a sign of wealth, the Malfoys don't like the fact Hermione is Muggle born, they think it lessens her value as a slave, hence they don't let her been seen by guests. Not the same case for Ginny, who they just want to embarrass in this chappie.

**Amrawo**: Thanks for reviewing; I'm glad that you like the story.

**The Queen C**: Glad you like the story, and thanks for the compliments! I have a strange attachment to histories of things. Hence why I give a lot of background information. I hate reading stories that leave out large chunks of information that leaves you confused until the very end of the story.


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I still have that one-dollar bill in my wallet. George Washington and me are becoming very good friends… yeah… right…. It's like talking with George, I don't own Harry Potter.

**Chapter Four**

The trio of boys had gone home when the clock had neared one in the morning. Draco had quickly ushered his friends out, knowing his father would soon be home. Both Draco, and Mrs. Malfoy had disappeared into the upper levels of the house, leaving Ginny and Hermione to clean up the mess the boys had left.

Hermione had volunteered to clean the kitchen. That left Ginny to straightening up the dinning room and the living room that the boys had been in. There were ink spills on the carpet of the living dining room, along with small pieces of paper, which looked like they had been used for spitballs. Sighing at the boy's immaturity, Ginny started to quickly straighten up the room.

By the time Hermione had come into the living room, all that was left on the floor were the ink splotches.

"That's it," Ginny growled as she threw the brush she was using towards Hermione's feet. The black ink had seeped deep down into the thick carpet, leaving little hope that it would ever come out using Muggle standards.

"We need to get that out of the carpet before Mr. Malfoy comes in!" Hermione said as she looked around. Growling, Ginny looked up at her friend, knowing what she said was true.

"I have an idea," Ginny stated as she eyed the carpet. Closing her eyes she calmed her breathing, searching her memory for a spell. Hermione stood, tapping her foot, worried about the time she was wasting. Mr. Malfoy did not like to come home to see his slaves finishing up even the slightest bit of cleaning. He preferred that the slaves stayed out of his sight.

The grandfather clock chimed two as Ginny sat still. Hermione looked up at the clock, hoping Mr. Malfoy wasn't about to open the door and walking to see what had happened to his precious house. By the time Hermione looked down at the floor again, the spots of ink had vanished.

"What did you do?" gasped Hermione as she nudged the carpet with her foot. Ginny sat on the floor looking at Hermione. Her porcelain complexion had gone to an even paler white, if that was at all possible.

"Do you believe in magic?" Ginny asked sarcastically. She wiped her sweat off of her face as she looked up at Hermione. The older girl was looking at the carpet then to Ginny without saying anything at all.

"That's impossible," Hermione snapped, "You need a wand to do magic! And seeing you're a slave you can't possibly be hiding a wand, or else you'd have freed yourself by now."

"Ever heard of accidental magic?" Ginny asked. Hermione nodded slowly. "Well that's wandless magic. Sure little kids do it without knowing they're doing magic, but it's accidental magic all the same. I just applied the same principal and concentrated really hard. I don't plan on doing that again any time soon."

"It's not possible," Hermione huffed. Rolling her eyes, Ginny started to get to her feet. With all the energy she had put into cleaning the rug, she barley had enough left to stand up.

"Whatever Hermione," sighed Ginny, "If everything else is cleaned up then I'll meet you in our quarters. No sense in both of us meeting up with Mr. Malfoy when he gets home." Hermione nodded, before she briskly walked out of the room. On any given night Mr. Malfoy could come home drunk. Hermione had told Ginny stories about such times, and the one time she had gotten caught by Mr. Malfoy when she was cleaning out the pantry.

As Ginny slowly made her way back to her quarters, she heard the door slam shut. Freezing in fear, Ginny looked around her to see which way was the quickest to head. She was currently at the bottom of the stairs. With how slow she was walking, there was no way she could avoid Mr. Malfoy. She was simply too exhausted from her successful attempt at wandless magic.

Before she had the chance to at least walk out of sight Mr. Malfoy had approached the hallway leading to the stairs. He was swaying slightly as he walking, indicating he was indeed drunk. Unlike Hermione's stories of him coming home swearing, he wasn't overly drunk as he usually was.

"You girl," Mr. Malfoy called out. Ginny stood up straight, with her hands grasped in front of her. "What are you doing wandering around the house at night?"

"I'm sorry if I disturbed you sir," Ginny said pleasantly, "I was cleaning up the carpet in the living room. One of Draco's friends had managed to accidentally spill ink on it. By the time I got to clean it, the ink was very well dried up. It took me a long while to get the carpet back to its original white color."

"That's no excuse," growled Mr. Malfoy as he walked up to the bottom of the stairs. Struggling not to start panicking, Ginny stood still. Mr. Malfoy was only five feet away from her, and she did not feel safe. The smell of fire whisky was strong and Mr. Malfoy did not look happy.

"I'm sorry sir," Ginny said as she bent her head down in mock shame. At the moment Ginny hoped that Mr. Malfoy was buying her act of being innocent. After all he had never really seen her temper. It was better to pretend she was a nice, quiet, slave, than get beat at the moment.

"Sorry doesn't solve anything girl," Mr. Malfoy snarled. Before Ginny could react, Mr. Malfoy's ice-cold hand had collided with Ginny's cheek. Wincing slightly at the sting of the hit, Ginny held her cheek. Looking up at Mr. Malfoy she saw his eyes were filled with bitter hate. Taking a step back hoped that Mr. Malfoy would only hit her once.

"Sorry doesn't regain me all the money I lost gambling tonight," Mr. Malfoy said, deliver another blow to Ginny's face. With the force of the hit, Ginny collapsed to the ground. She was out of strength to stay standing while Mr. Malfoy kept hitting her. Whimpering at the pain in both of her cheeks only angered Mr. Malfoy all the more. "You know what else sorry doesn't do?" he taunted. Whimpering Ginny clenched her eyes shut, just waiting for the answer. "Sorry does not take back the humiliation of losing your only two slaves to two of your worst enemies." With his last statement he deliver a swift kick to Ginny's stomach. Crying out in pain, Ginny bit her lip, so she wouldn't cry while curling up into a ball.

As she was lying on the floor, Ginny could hear the soft fall of footsteps. Her cry must have awoken Mrs. Malfoy and Draco. Fearing that there was more of a beating to come, Ginny tried to curl up smaller.

"Lucius what are you doing?" Mrs. Malfoy shrieked from upstairs. "You can't beat her useless! She's needed tomorrow to do cleaning. Unless you want to clean the bedrooms."

"There won't be a tomorrow Narcissa," countered Lucius. Coming down the stairs Mrs. Malfoy stood on the bottom step, quickly looking over Ginny, before glaring at her husband.

"What do you mean they're won't be a tomorrow?" Narcissa demanded. Cursing herself, Ginny guessed that there was about to be a lover's spat.

"I lost them," Lucius snarled.

"Lost who?" demanded Narcissa.

"The slaves!" bellowed Lucius. There was an uneasy silence as Narcissa was processing what Lucius had said. Ginny uncurled a bit from the ball she had tried to keep herself in.

"You lost them both?" Narcissa whispered, "To who?"

"To some new kid at the pub, I think his name was Bill, or Bob," Lucius explained, "Then to our dear friend James Potter. The two of them are coming at eight."

"Lucius how could you?" Narcissa sighed.

"Well you see, Potter suggested the table bet whatever their wives can't live without for a round. The table agrees. Potter never was good at playing card games. The idea was that whoever was left with cards would give up whatever their wives couldn't live without. So first off I bid the brown haired slave, saying she's a good worker in the kitchen. Bob, or whatever his name was, mentions his mother could use help in the kitchen. Cards are passed out, and the only people who haven't folded are Nott, that Bob person, and me. Nott had two of a kind, I had a full house, and the Bob character had a flush. He won our brown haired slave and Nott's wife's favorite necklace," grumbled Lucius, "I decided to see if I could win her back. Bob declines saying it was getting late and he needed to get home to his wife. After he leaves, Nott decides we should bet slaves. Potter agrees, but he claims not to have any slaves so he bet some odd family heirloom. This time I bet that redhead slave we have. The game gets down to just me and Potter, most of the guys had dropped out, not wanting to anger their wives by losing slaves. I put down a straight, thinking I've won. Potter ends up putting down a royal flush."

"Well, they're isn't anything we can do now," Narcissa sighed, "Come to bed then." Narcissa gently grabbed Lucius' arm, leading him up the stairs.

As Narcissa and Lucius disappeared up the stairs Ginny fully relaxed. Her ribs were aching terribly, while her cheeks were just sore. She knew she wouldn't look very well tomorrow. If Lucius had his way with anything, he'd convince this Potter character that it was no good in taking damaged property.

It took much longer than Ginny would have liked to get back to her room. She collapsed on the bed, hoping that in a few hours she'd be out of the Malfoy Manner.

"Ginny, what took you so long?" Hermione yawned as she sat up in her bed.

"I had a nice conversation with Mr. Malfoy," moaned Ginny.

"It doesn't sound like it," Hermione observed. Kicking off her shoes Ginny rolled her eyes.

"Can't you take sarcasm?" questioned Ginny. Not getting an answer from Hermione, Ginny continued, "Mr. Malfoy decided to take his anger out on me because he lost the two of us in a card game. We leave tomorrow."

"What!"

"Our new owners are coming to pick us up tomorrow."

"Who?"

"Mr. Malfoy couldn't remember the name of the guy who won you. But he decided his name was Bob, or something close to it. And I get to go home with James Potter," Ginny explained.

"Oh," Hermione answered, "I hope things won't get worse."

"Are you thinking things are going to get better?" asked Ginny.

"Yes," sighed Hermione, "But that never happens."

"You never know," Ginny, responded, "You never know." Hermione mumbled something in agreement. The two staying in silence, rather than sleep for a few hours. Slaves feared going to new owners. The next one always seemed worse than the last ones. Tomorrow was a day that would be filled with surprise.

Thanks to **ghilliekitten**, haydenrocks14, **Beth5572**, Cappygal116, **Tawa bids you good day, **DevonMarie, **The Queen C**, and wally4ever

A/N Very special thanks to **Tawa bids you a good day** for bringing to my attention the fact that responding to reviewers can get my story kicked off the site. So if you have any questions I will be emailing instead. This way you still get your answers and I can send my thanks. It all works out in the end, right?


	5. Chapter 5

_Disclaimer_: Not mine seeing as George just got a friend, his name is Alexander Hamilton. The two get on rather well if I might say…. Yeah, Harry Potter is not mine.

A/N I have an eight-page research paper due in one week. I have two pages so far… sooo next chapter won't be out until that's done.

**Chapter Five**

"Ginny?" Hermione called out softly. Moaning Ginny opened her eyes. The sunlight was just starting to come through the cracked window of the slave quarters.

"What Hermione?" Ginny questioned. Her cheeks were hurting as she talked due to the bruises that had formed from Mr. Malfoy hitting her.

"Mrs. Malfoy said we have an hour to be downstairs, dressed in our best. Or well looking presentable," answered Hermione. "And I thought you might like some breakfast too."

"Thanks Hermione," Ginny said as she sat up. Gasping, Ginny, wrapped her arms around her ribs. She had forgotten that Mr. Malfoy's foot had collided with her upper abdomen.

"You okay?" asked Hermione as she placed down a small bowl of porridge.

"I will be," Ginny said, "I think a few of my ribs are either fractured or broken. It's not a pretty feeling." Nodding in sympathy, Hermione went back to her bed to sit down.

Ginny could sympathize what Hermione was feeling, after all she had been traded among her owners fairly often. It wasn't as bad as being resold and bided on. The first time that a slave moved to a different owner was the worst experience.

It took Ginny the full hour to eat her porridge and wash up. Silently she headed to the sitting room, where Mrs. and Mr. Malfoy were sitting. Neither one looked happy at the situation at hand. Draco had left to go back to Hogwarts at six in the morning, totally oblivious that his father had lost both of the family slaves.

A soft knock on the door jarred the Malfoy's from their thoughts. Mrs. Malfoy sprang to her feet as she headed to answer the door, something she had not done in years. Ginny and Hermione were left standing in the sitting room with Mr. Malfoy, who wasn't paying attention to them.

"You two are both very lucky to have won these slaves. They're both such good workers. Though the redhead does tend to have a nasty temper at times, a good beating will take care of that though," Narcissa chattered as she led the two guests into the sitting room. As the three stepped into the room, Ginny sucked in a breath.

Bob, as Mr. Malfoy had deemed him, was in reality Bill Weasley. He had changed slightly from the last time Ginny had laid eyes on her older brother. His red hair was still in its usual ponytail, and he still had his dragon tooth earring. His eyes though had dulled a bit from the entire trauma that had befallen his family.

James Potter was another story. He stood with an air that required respect. His black messy hair almost hid his coffee colored eyes, while a small smile graced his face. Ginny's face flushed at the realization it was his son that had thanked her for holding the door open last night.

"Take them and be gone," Lucius demanded coldly. Hermione winced at the tone of voice that was used. She was slightly afraid of Mr. Malfoy as she had saw what had happened to Ginny.

"Such hospitality," James chuckled, " So what are they're names? And who get who?"

"Did I not tell you-"

"Yes, but I do believe we all had our share of fire whiskey. Hard to remember small details when you're drinking that stuff," Bill said. With a mock serious smile, James nodded in agreement.

"Hermione come here," Lucius demanded as he got to his feet. Trembling slightly, Hermione did as she was instructed. "We've had Hermione since she could do magic, she's a mudblood. Currently eighteen, of age I might add. Narcissa and I had been debating on setting up a marriage for her among a fellow slave." Staring at the floor, Hermione's cheeks darkened. It was obvious she didn't know the Malfoys were thinking of letting her marry.

"She's the girl who is good in the kitchen," Narcissa chimed in.

"So that means the girl gets to come home with me," stated Bill, "You'll love to meet my mother. She's always in the kitchen." Weakly Hermione nodded.

"Ginny come forward," Narcissa said quietly. Lucius had refused to talk with Ginny, since he had run into her last night. Not that Ginny minded, it was easier to control her temper without being goaded.

"This is the redhead, if you couldn't tell," commented Lucius. Ginny put on her most innocent face as she held her hands in front of her. Bill's face went chalk white as he recognized his sister.

"Ginny?" he managed to squeak out.

"Took you long enough," snapped Ginny as she placed her hands on her hips. Bill stood looking over his sister with his mouth gaping open.

"As I was saying. Ginny came to us recently. But was you see, she came under some damage recently. Poor thing fell down the stairs," Lucius said. James' eyes scanned her over quickly.

"You took out your anger on her," he concluded. Lucius tensed at how easily James had guessed at what happened. Not taking her chances, Ginny started to inch towards her new master.

"Get out," Lucius demanded. His wand had managed to find its way to his hand as he held it up, threatening James.

"My pleasure," answered James, "But I'm taking the girl with me." Before the spell could fly out of Lucius' wand, James wrapped his arm around Ginny's waste, before dissapparating. Not wanting the same fate to happen to him, Bill grabbed Hermione quickly and followed James' lead, but not to the same place.

"Good going. Now we lost both of our slaves," snapped Lucius.

"They were good as gone," replied Narcissa, "There was no way either of us could have bargained for them back. If I were you, I'd go alert your master of what has become of the two slaves we were housing. I'm sure he'd be more than delighted to know that you let a blood traitor out of our grasp."

"Shut up Narcissa," Lucius snarled as he walked out of the room. Sitting down on one of the chairs in the room. Narcissa conjured herself up a martini and started to sip from the glass

Thanks to: The Queen C, rowlinghermione, Cappygal116, MsMissProngs, Hnz786, wally4ever, DevonMarie, ghilliekitten, and haydenrocks14.

Questions….

What happened to the boy who lived?

He's still the boy who lived, Harry has yet to be properly introduced and have his side of the story told. I'm playing around with what I want to happen there. Feel free to make suggestions.

Who is Bob/Bill?

I do believe that was answered in the chapter. None of you guessed who it would be, the guesses were good though. And whoever mentioned Sirius, thanks. I forgot I wanted to weave him somewhere in here, if possible.


	6. Chapter 6

_Disclaimer_: George and Alexander are still getting along just fine in my wallet. And seeing, as I don't have anymore than that with me. I'm too poor to buy Harry Potter rights for Rowling, so Harry Potter is hers. The story plot, mine, and so are the two new characters introduced in this chapter.

A/N This would have be up sooner but due to problems on my half and my betas half that didn't happen. I shall thank you all for being patient. I had to finish a research paper, yeah pulled 8 pages out of my ass. Don't have a talent for that but oh well. And my beta wasn't feeling up to par. I'd promise the next chapter would be up sooner. But I have another two papers to write and a group protect to organize. I hope it'll be up soon, no promises here.

**Chapter Six:** A Small Sanctuary

The cold fall winds whirled around outside as Lily Potter stood in her front room looking out of the front bay window. Her husband had gone out for a business deal on a Saturday, and that didn't happen too often. Being an Auror, James made enough money for Lily to be a housewife, which was fine by her. There wasn't much to do job wise for a mudblood when Voldemort was controlling the Ministry.

"Mum, looking out the window won't bring dad back any sooner," a soft voice stated. Lily jumped a bit, she hadn't expected either of her girls to find her. Turning around she smiled at the girl who stood in the doorway.

"Emma what are you doing?" Lily asked. Her daughter smiled innocently as she started to twist a strand of her copper colored hair. "Aren't you supposed to be finishing up your potions lesson?"

"Awe, but mum, writing essays is boring," whined Emma, "Plus why write when I can just ask Anna?"

"Asking your sister about everything isn't going to solve all your problems in life," Lily sighed. The girls were home schooled by their mother. Lily worried about people recognize the twins if they were to go to Hogwarts as hers.

"What good is having a twin then," Emma mumbled under her breath.

"I heard that."

Emma's light brown eyes flashed in anger. Even though Emma and Anna were twins, the two were different as night and day. Emma took after her father in all but her looks, she loved to fly and though naturally smart, didn't see the point in reading about everything. Anna was more like Lily. She enjoyed reading books more than doing physical activity. Her looks though were almost like Emma's, only Harry could tell the twins apart from Lily. James still had trouble from time to time seeing as the girls liked to play trick on him.

"What exactly are you waiting for mum?" Anna asked as she walked into the room. There was a bit of ink on her left cheek that she was attempting to wipe off.

"Your father to come home."

"Dad's gone?" the twins asked together.

"Yes, he said he had something to take care of," replied Lily, "He probably had to go collect something he won from his night out at the pub."

"He usually doesn't win stuff though," Anna pointed out. Emma nodded in agreement.

"Oh well," sighed Lily, "Are you two done with your potions work?" The twins nodded. "You can go flying then if you like." The girls scampered off before Lily could change her mind.

Before the girls could make it out the door there was a loud bang heard in the kitchen. Not waiting for her two youngest children to call out that everything was fine, Lily rushed to the kitchen.

The site that enfolded before Lily's eyes greatly surprised her. James had apparated into the kitchen, with an overly thin girl in his arms. For once the twins were silent, staring at their father and the girl.

"Hi Lily," James said casually.

"James," Lily said coldly, "Would you care to explain where you were for so long and who the girl is?"

"No need to feel threatened by her Lily. She's a bit to young for me," joked James. Earning him a glare from his wife. "I told you I won against Malfoy last night. Well, I won one of his slaves. The slave being this girl here."

"And she's unconscious why?" Emma demanded.

"Malfoy gave her quite a beating last night after he lost both his slaves. He ended up breaking some of her ribs. So, I was at St. Mungos for a bit while they treated her," James explained. Ginny twisted in discomfort. She was still asleep from one of the potions they gave her at St. Mungos.

"Slave?" Emma asked.

"Wasn't mum a slave?" picked up Anna.

"Did you not agree-"

"With mum, that-"

"That you wouldn't have any slaves in this house-"

"All because mum is muggle born?"

"He did girls," Lily answered, "but he had a good reason for winning her. The Malfoys aren't exactly the nicest people. I'm sure you remember Draco, well his father is by far worse. Your father was just trying to save the girl from ending up dead. What's her name?"

"You remember the small girl the Weasley's had?" asked James. Lily nodded, the family had been good friends with the Weasley's before angered the Minister of Magic. "Well, this is their youngest child, Ginny."

"Wait a minute," chimed Anna, "I thought the Weasleys only had boys. After all there hasn't been a female born to the Weasleys in generations!"

"Molly's youngest was a girl. Ginny's just a year younger than Harry, two years older than you two," Lily said, "We need someplace to put here. It's not like we have a slave quarters, or an extra bed."

"We could put her up in Harry's room for the time being," Emma suggested, "After all, our darling brother is at school until, what Christmas? Or is it the end of the school term?"

"Don't you think Harry would mind?" inquired James.

"What he doesn't know won't hurt him," Lily concluded quickly, "I'd go put her in the bed soon, before the skelagrow starts to kick in fully." Skeptically looking at his wife, James hesitated a moment before slowly walking up to Harry's room.

"If she's a pureblood how can she be a slave?" Emma asked.

"Fudge found some loophole," sighed Lily. She remembered when the news came out that there had been four purebloods made slaves. The wizarding community hadn't been too happy. But with Voldemort backing the minister there was nothing anyone could have done unless they wished to end up dead in some deserted ally.

"A loophole? How? Purebloods can't be made slaves. It just doesn't make sense," demanded Anna.

"With Voldemort controlling the minister, anything is possible. I do believe it was the third oldest Weasley, Percy, who revealed to the public that Voldemort was the one behind all the attacks on the wizards and muggles. Voldemort wanted to get back at him, and since he couldn't do it directly, he went after Percy's family. Fudge forced Author to sell his four children that were home to save himself from the debt he owed Fudge," Lily explained.

"Wouldn't Mrs. Weasley been heart broken?" Emma asked. Lily smiled, she had often told the girls she wouldn't be able to survive if anyone of her children was taken away from her.

"She was for a while," said Lily, "But you have to understand Fred and George Weasley are two wizards you do not want to underestimate. They ended up escaping from their first masters the Lestranges. Somehow they ended up with Sirius. And you two know Sirius hates his cousins. He naturally claimed them as his two slaves, gave Bella some money, and shut the door in her face."

"So Uncle Sirius has two slaves?" Anna asked surprised. As often as the Potter children were over at the Black house they hadn't noticed anyone else besides Sirius' occasional girlfriend.

"He doesn't consider or treat them as slaves," responded Lily, "They live in the shed out back, the one that looks like it's going to collapse."

"Is that how we're going to treat Ginny?" Emma asked, "Like she's just living with us until we can get her back with her family?"

"No, it's not going to be like. We're actually going to try to give her, her freedom back," Lily corrected.

"It's impossible to free slaves! The last time someone freed a slave they were killed along with the slave. It's impossible," Anna stated. A small smile came to Lily's face.

"Then how the hell did mum get free?" Emma challenged.

"She's mum!"

"Like every rule, there is a loophole," Lily said quietly, "You two should go outside. I'm going upstairs. From your father's footsteps it sounds like he had no trouble getting into Harry's room. I do believe he is up in our room."

"We see we're not wanted," Emma stated in mock anger. Anna giggled at her sister as she walked out the door. Nose in the air Emma followed. Rolling her eyes at the twins antics, Lily hurried up the stairs.

The hallway was lined with pictures of James' family. Most of the pictures waved at her as she passed, they had no problem that Lily wasn't a pureblood.

"Hey, Lils," James said as he shut the door to Harry's room.

"Hey yourself," responded Lily, "Did she wake up at all?"

"Just for a bit. She looked around, and I guess something about Harry's room calmed her, and then shut her eyes. She's a bit calmer than when I apparated here."

"The poor thing," Lily sighed, "Well when she wakes I'll go talk to her."

"Better you than me," snapped James, "What types of curses does our son but on his room? I swear I had to stand at the door muttering every counter curse I knew before I could even touch the door handle."

"You know he's just trying to protect himself. After all Voldemort did find a way to get through all our wards seventeen years ago to try to kill him. Little good that did," Lily remarked dryly, "You'd be watching your back if you went to the school the power hungry nut job ran. I'm surprised he even let Harry in."

"I think you underestimate what spells are on his doors," James muttered as he walked away. Shaking her head Lily looked at her son's door.

Voldemort had come knocking all those years ago after he had found that some mudblood had reproduced with a pureblood. After all, the Potter family was very famous for its powerful pureblooded wizards. As Voldemort had silently made his way to the second story all those years ago on Halloween night no one had heard him. Lily had been woken up to her baby screaming his lungs out. Harry had been a calm, quiet baby, so unlike the twins. She had been scared when she had heard him. When she had come into his room, Voldemort was gone, but the mark he had left was proof enough that he had been there. To this day Harry still had the lightening bolt scar that was a result of the death curse. With muggle makeup he was able to hide the scar, allowing him to attend Hogwarts as a student whose mother was a muggle and whose father was some unknown wizard. The story had worked well enough for Voldemort who didn't second-guess letting such a powerful half blood into his prestigious school.

Gently touching the door Lily eased it open as she heard a surprised squeak from the girl inside. Laughing, Lily guessed Ginny had woken up and was quite surprised to be in a bed. Entering the room Lily was greeted with the familiar sight of the red and gold painted walls, Gryffindor colors.

"How are you feeling dear?" Lily asked as she gently pushed the door shut. Ginny was sitting up in Harry's bed, with sweat dripping down her face. From the look on her face, she was not only confused by where she was, but she had a nightmare too.

"Where am I? And who are you?" demanded Ginny.

"I'm Lily Potter, apparently your new master's wife. And you are in my son Harry's room. We don't have slave quarters and seeing Harry's at Hogwarts until further notice, we thought you might like to sleep in a bed. Seeing as we don't have an extra bed at the moment we thought Harry wouldn't mind," Lily explained. The girl narrowed her eyes examining Lily. Deciding that Lily wasn't going to do any harm to her she visibly relaxed.

"Thanks I guess," mumbled Ginny, "I hope I'm not being too much of a burden on you. Tomorrow I can start doing whatever chores you want me to."

"Don't worry about chores dear. You aren't required to do anything here. I'm sure my girls will enjoy the company. And I dare say you need to enjoy your life. No need to go around and clean things. The house isn't that big and with magic I can manage it just fine," Lily said. Ginny nodded, not certain she was convinced that Lily actually meant what she said. "Get some sleep now. You've had a long day." Finding no strength left to argue, Ginny laid back down under the sheets and had drifted off into sleep before Lily shut the door on her way out.


	7. Chapter 7

_Disclaimer_- _I don't own it! The plot belongs to be as do my characters, the twins Emma and Anna, as well as a new character alluded to in this chapter. Seeing as I'm a poor college student who has to pay her friends there is no way that I can get enough money to even think of buy Harry Potter away from its brilliant creator._

_A/N I should really be doing my calc homework, but this comes first. Plus if I have to do Reimann Sums again I'm going to harm my teacher… or send him back to Romania!_

**Chapter Seven**

"You think she's awake?"

"No."

"And how can you tell?"

"Because she hasn't said anything about the two freaks standing over her, waiting for her to wake up."

"That would be creepy."

"Then stop standing over her Emma!"

"I wouldn't be talking."

Ginny rolled over, pulling the thick comforter over her head in an attempt to drown out the voices. Before Ginny could fall back into sleep she tensed. Her slave cot at the Malfoy's did not have more than a thin sheet, even on the coldest of nights. Nor were there two female voices that haunted the house. In panic Ginny jerked up into a sitting position. Wincing slightly, she had forgotten that her ribs would still be sore from the night of regrowing bones. Sitting on the end of the bed were two identical girls, hazel eyes wide in surprise. Rubbing her eyes, Ginny noticed that the not only were the girls not a double imagine, they both had copper colored hair.

"Um… hello?" Ginny said uncertainly. The twins looked at each other for a moment, then focused back on Ginny.

"Hello," they chirped. A slight smile came to Ginny's lips, the girls vaguely reminded her of Fred and George. Her two brothers answered together just to annoy her mum.

"And you two would be?" inquired Ginny. A bright smile appeared on both girls faces.

"I'm Emma," the girl on the left said.

"And I'm Anna," the other girl said, "You're name's Ginny, right?" Ginny nodded, slightly confused at how they would know who she was. "It's a pleasure to meet you."

"Same here," replied Ginny. Looking around the room Ginny remembered what had happened yesterday. After leaving the Malfoys, James had taken her to St. Mungos to get her wounds treated. The next thing she remembered was waking up from a nightmare and talking with Mrs. Potter. Who the two girls that were sitting on the end of the bed, she had no clue. The Potters only had a son to the public's knowledge. The girls could be related to her new owners, or they were servants.

"The shower's down the hall if you're interested. Mum put clothes in there for you. She thought you'd like to get outs of your slave garments and into some decent robes for once. I'm sure you'd like to take a nice bath. Lord knows I would after living as someone's personal servant for years," Anna said. Ginny nodded, as she shoved the comforter off of herself. Looking around the room Ginny finally noticed that she was in what looked to be a boy's room. The walls were striped with red and gold, with posters of Quidditch teams hanging on the walls. Even though it seemed like the occupant of the room wasn't living in it, there were random clothes and other articles scattered on the ground.

"A very long bath sounds nice," sighed Ginny, "So who are you two exactly?"

"We're both Potters," Anna answered, "Mum didn't want the press to get wind that James Potter had daughters with his mysterious mistress. We look like mum, and she doesn't want to bring any more problems into the house. Keeping it quiet helps mum keep her sanity, or what's left of it."

"Oh," Ginny answered. She didn't quite understand why Lily Potter didn't want to make herself known in the wizarding world, but she knew better to ask.

"The bathroom is two doors down the right," Emma piped up, "The door should be open, if not knock. Come down to the kitchen after you're done. Our mum wants to make sure you get a decent breakfast in you, she says you're too skinny."

Nodding again, Ginny climbed out of bed and stretched. The twins quickly left the room, leaving Ginny to herself. Appreciating the silence that the twins left in their wake, she made her way down the hall. There were many pictures on the wall; a few of them were standing still, which slightly confused Ginny. Most wizarding houses didn't have anything muggle in them at all, the Dark Lord frowned upon anything muggle.

One picture caught her eye, as she stopped to look at it. The picture had obviously been taken in the backyard of the Burrow. Lily sat at a picnic table, chatting with Ginny's mother, who was holding a small bundle in her arms. James was trying to explain something that involved a broom to the twins, who were listening simply. Percy was sitting underneath a tree with a book, while Bill and Charlie were talking with a black haired wizard Ginny didn't recognize. Near the picnic table sat two small boys, Ginny guessed to be at least one. One had red hair and the other had black hair. Lily pulled the dark haired boy into her arms to say something before putting him down on the ground with his friend.

"Recognize the place?" James asked as he came out of a room. Not expected anyone to be upstairs, Ginny jumped.

"What were you and Lily doing at the Burrow?" Ginny asked. She didn't remember her family ever being friends with the Potters.

"You're parents invited us over once a year. That was until Voldemort decided to mark Harry as his equal, after that we kept quiet," James explained, "I spent the day describing Quiditch to your two brothers. I remember our mother saying it was the only day in their lives that they ever behaved. Percy is reading some book Lily found for him. Bill and Charlie are talking with our friend, Sirius Black. I doubt you'll remember Sirius, but he was one of the only people you'd let hold you when you were little. You're mother has you in her arms in the picture. Sitting on the ground are Harry and Ron."

"Where are Anna and Emma?" Ginny asked, she couldn't seem to find the twins in the picture.

"So you've met the terrors of Potter Place?" chuckled James, "Those two weren't born for another year and a half. They're two years younger than you. I'm surprised they didn't tell you their age. They were very excited to know they'd be keeping you company."

"They seem nice."

"Don't let their first impression fool you," James muttered, "Whatever you do, don't let them near anything that can potentially be lit on fire. Because they will end up burning the thing."

"They can't be as bad as Fred and George," chuckled Ginny. She remembered her brothers were not only constantly blowing things up in their room, but they were constantly playing tricks on the household.

"True," responded James, "Go shower. If I keep stalling any more Lily will have me do more than cutting the grass the muggle way. Says it looks better when it's cut with a mower." Mumbling about having to do yard work James disappeared down the stairs. Giving the photograph one last glance, Ginny made her way down to the bathroom.

The bathroom was right were the twins had said it would be. Locking the door behind her Ginny disregarded her ratty slave garments and prepared for a long, hot bath.

By the time Ginny was done scrubbing every inch of grime off herself the bathroom mirror was a lovely shade of white, vaguely reminding Ginny of clouds. The clothes Lily had left fit Ginny perfectly. A loose top just showed off her curves slightly and a pair of cloth pants made Ginny perfectly happy. After she had sunk into the depths of the bubble bath she had prepared her slave garments had mysteriously vanished.

Giving her hair one last run through with a comb Ginny smiled as her hair finally looked healthy. It had once again returned to curling near the bottom as all the dirt and oil were finally washed out of it. Ginny put the brush down on the counter before exiting the bathroom. A bit of steam visibly floated out of the door as Ginny made her way into the hallway. Chuckling at the fact she'd managed to create a sauna in the bathroom she made her way to the stairs.

Half way down the stairs Ginny stopped as she heard voices coming from the sitting room. Not sure if she should interrupt or turn back she stayed put, not knowing an alternate route to avoid ease dropping.

"You've managed to screw your life up this time Padfoot," said a voice Ginny recognized as James'. Knowing that an argument was brewing, she decided to sit down for the time being.

"You think?" retorted a male voice that wasn't familiar.

"Well, at least someone here can think," Lily commented tartly. Stifling a laugh, Ginny leaned up against the railing to make out the argument better. "What are you planning on doing about this Sirius?"

"I don't know Lil, I don't know," Padfoot or Sirius muttered, "I can just imagine my mother's reaction."

"That would be hilarious, if the old hag wasn't dead."

"James!"

"Sorry Lils, but you never had the horror of meeting Mrs. Black."

"Sirius, you really need to grow up and not run away from this problem. Goodness knows if you run she'll never be able to forgive you. That girl is waiting on your reaction to this. And considering that you ran out on her, it's not looking too good," Lily chastised.

"How would you have reacted?" challenged Sirius.

"A whole lot calmer than you."

"Shouldn't have asked that," Sirius snorted, "What would I have said? I realize that this problem was created mainly by me and I'm willing to help you through it? I doubt that would do any good. She'll probably just slam the door on my face, threatening to hex the hell out of me."

"You never know until you try," mumbled Ginny. As the conversation in the dropped dead, Ginny's hands flew over her mouth. Mentally she cursed herself for opening her mouth. She'd managed to voice her opinion where it didn't belong and she wasn't too sure how the Potters would react.

"What was that?" Sirius asked.

Getting up off the steps Ginny repeated herself as she walked into the sitting room, "You never know how things will work out until you give them a try."

James was currently still, looking between his friend and Ginny. A slight chuckled escaped from Lily, as she tried to will herself to not laugh.

"So you're saying unless I willingly leave myself open to being beaten to a pulp, by a hormonal witch I might add. That I won't really find out if she'll hex me to death?" questioned Sirius. Ginny nodded. "Might as well give it a try. Well, I'm off then to see if dear Mab will kill me or not." With a loud bang Sirius disappeared from the Potter's dining room.

"Sorry about that," Ginny said, "I honestly didn't mean to hear any of that conversation. I had come down the stairs half way when I heard you talking and I wasn't sure if I should interrupt or go back up. So I just stayed put."

"Don't worry about it," James shrugged.

"It's what Sirius needed to hear," chuckled Lily, "And he wouldn't have taken our advice on the subject matter. But you need food. Come, come into the kitchen we shall venture. You desperately need meat on your bones!" Not bothering to argue Ginny followed Lily as she made her way to the kitchen. As much as she didn't want to admit it Ginny was very hungry and looking forward to anything remotely warm.

"So that was Sirius Black?" Ginny asked as she sat down at the large mahogany table.

"Yes it was. And you'll have to excuse his behavior," Lily confirmed, "He's having women troubles, as usual."

"It sounded like it was more than he was used to," observed Ginny. Taking a break from stirring some form of batter Lily looked at Ginny thoughtfully for a moment.

"He's a lot more than he's used to," Lily answered as she returned her attention back to whatever she was mixing. "With most of the girls Sirius goes out with, he doesn't get attached. With Mab, it's a different story. Sirius has fallen head over heals for the girl, and he managed to do something that upset her greatly. Not to mention she's almost exactly what his family wished the girl he would marry turned out to be."

"What do you mean?" Ginny asked as Lily set down a plate of warm pancakes in front of her.

"The Black family has been pureblood for generations on end. And Sirius' family was going to arrange a marriage with him to some snotty pureblood girl. Mind you, most of the witches and wizards have to ask Voldemort's if they can even think of marrying. And most of the witches and wizards being born in the past decade or so have been results of illegal relations. Sirius was all set to disobey his family to his death. All the flings he's had have been with squibs, muggles, and half bloods. Not one of them has been a pureblood," Lily explained, "Well Mab is different. Not only does she have Sirius' heart. She's a pureblood. And from what I understand, she's some distant relative of Morgan LeFay. That in itself would please any pureblood family who support the dark lord."

"So Sirius is partially upset because this girl is someone who his family could have possibly set him up with?" questioned Ginny, "What's so important about Morgan?"

"You see, Merlin is a famous wizard, knowing for helping out legendary King Arthur. Well Morgan is thought to be Merlin's opposing evil. Thus making her someone that the purebloods idolize. It's hard to explain, but to most purebloods Morgan is a prominent evil figure in history," Lily answered. With her mouth full Ginny nodded her understanding. Not saying anything more Lily walked out of the kitchen, muttering about it being too quiet.

A moment later a loud crash was heard, followed by yelling. Almost choking from laughter and a full mouth, Ginny could hear the twins being scolded.

Responses:

Thanks to everyone who reviewed last chapter! I'm sorry I didn't have time to get a thanks up… kinda forgot to do that before I posted.

Thanks to kgk89, brunetteheartsredhead, unsound mirth, amrawo, DevonMarie, Cappygal116, Beth5572, PennyP, P0cketmouse, Tawa bids you good day, Fancyfree, The Female Nerd, wally4ever, and MsMissProngs, for all reviewing!

Questions:

Where's Ron? That's a good question, I haven't figured that out yet.

Is Lily going to set Harry and Ginny up? Um, no.


	8. Chapter 8

_Disclaimer_- _Nicht mien… and if I knew the right part of speech that was it would all make sense! So, in English… NOT MINE…. Thank you all and have a good day._

_A/N _Well it's been a week and my beta still hasn't sent back the chapter all corrected, I decided to post after giving it a good read through. And if you all are noticing reoccurring grammatical problems, please point them out. They'll help me with writing my essays for college.

**Chapter Eight**

Feliz Navidad 

The Potter Mansion was decorated from top to bottom with Christmas decorations. The trees outside had been charmed to look they had muggle lights on them. And there was a multitude of evergreen sprigs all over the place. It was tradition for the Potter's house to be brightly decorated, and seeing it was almost in the middle of nowhere no one could complain about how bright the lights were or if there was too much greenery surrounding the place. The twins along, with James, had managed to put most of the decorations up, along with causing some mischief in the mean time.

For Ginny, the whole month she had been in the Potter Mansion was a good one. She had taken a few weeks to get adjusted. The twins had helped her feel like she was wanted. The Potters had all agreed that even though Ginny had the label of slave, that she was still a person and was to be treated as one. Lily was friendly, but she tended to spend most of her time trying to figure out where Ginny was going to stay. With Harry coming home for the Christmas months, Ginny would no longer have the luxury of sleeping in Harry's bed. Though James had said that it might do Harry some good to have a girl in bed with him. Needless to say Lily had taken after him with a wooden spoon in her hand.

As of right now Ginny was sleeping in the couch, even after Lily's objections. Ginny had heard James and Lily talking about where they were going to put Harry for the time he was home. As she walked into the conversation, Ginny announced she was moving to the couch in the family room, and there wasn't a thing anyone could do about it. Not that the couch was uncomfortable, but the Potters wanted Ginny to be more comfortable than she was used to.

Since she had some time to herself, Ginny had searched around the kitchen for cooking ingredients. It was Christmas Eve and Ginny was still at a loss to what to create for the twins. Lily had given her the suggestion of knitting, but Ginny was a total klutz with knitting needles. So she had resulted to baking, a talent that she shared with her mother.

"Ginny! Ginny! He'll be here in an hour!" Emma screamed as she came running into the kitchen. Ginny was currently working on making gingerbread cookies. Some of the batter had spattered on to Ginny, not making her look too attractive.

"That's great," replied Ginny sarcastically, "You've been telling me that he's coming back for the past three hours, including waking me up to it." Blinking at Ginny, Emma sat down at the island half watching what her friend was doing. After a late night, Ginny had been looking forward to sleeping. Due to an excited Emma thudding down the stairs at nine had crushed those thoughts of actually sleeping in.

"Anna said the same thing," whined Emma. Rolling her eyes Ginny surprised a laugh. Even though Anna was excited about her elder brother coming home, she didn't show it like Emma. Being the much sensible sister, Anna had appeared half asleep half an hour after her sister had first appeared on the first floor.

"And Anna knows that when you run around the house waiting for your older brother you loose track of time," a voice drawled out. Recognizing the voice, Emma nearly tumbled off her chair.

"Harry!" she shrieked. Getting back to her feet Emma dashed towards Harry, engulfing him in a hug.

"You don't look like Anna," Harry declared as he looked over the back of Ginny's head. Not turning around Ginny blushed. She wasn't looking forward to facing Harry. Even if he went to Hogwarts, he was the legendary boy-who-lived, and in Ginny's eyes quite a nice view to look at.

"I heard my name," Anna said as she walked into the kitchen. With it being noon Anna was still wearing her fuzzy slippers. She had changed out of her nightgown into a sweater and jeans, but her footwear stayed the same as it had been in the morning.

"And how are my favorite sisters?" Harry asked as he broke away from Emma and embracing Anna in a hug.

"Been having fun," replied Emma, "And the girl who you successfully identified as, not Anna, is Ginny." Cursing at Emma's large mouth, Ginny turned around trying to brush off specks of cookie dough.

"Um… hi," Ginny said as she tucked a stray piece of hair behind her ear. Harry smiled as he held out his hand. Hesitantly Ginny, reached out to shake it. It was only a brief moment that the handshake lasted, but Ginny's hand still held the warmth of Harry's grip for a few moments after.

"You were the girl who answered the door at Malfoy's," noted Harry, "I'm glad you found some way to get away from him."

"That would have been me."

"You're a Weasley aren't you?"

"How could you tell?" Ginny asked as she glanced up at the bangs that were falling in her eyes.

"You're hair color is the same color as your brothers'," Harry chuckled, "I used to hang out with Ron and the twins when they went to Hogwarts."

"Oh, so that's the boys were talking about when the mentioned the boy-who-lived," Ginny said casually. People knew Harry Potter was the infamous boy-who-lived, but Ginny hadn't believed her brothers when they told her who they were hanging out with. "If you don't mind me asking. How are you a half blood? Your parents both seem like capable pureblood wizards."

Harry glared a bit as he answered, "My mum was originally a slave. So how'd you become a slave?" It wasn't his favorite thing to answer what his family history was. Instantly knowing Ginny had asked the wrong question her faced turned scarlet.

"Oh, sorry shouldn't have asked," mumbled Ginny as she dashed out of the kitchen.

"Awe, Harry you had to go scare her off!" grumbled Emma.

"It's not exactly like I meant to," Harry snapped back, "Do you know how many times I get asked what whore I came from? The people at Hogwarts don't take I don't know for a reasonable answer. I can't tell them my mother escaped the bonds of slavery!"

"I don't think Harry upset her," Anna observed, "I think she's embarrassed that she asked. She'll come around, don't worry." She smiled softly at Harry, knowing Ginny had been trying to break the ice, and it had ended awfully.

"Shouldn't someone look after the cookies?" asked Emma.

"There is no way in hell that I'm going to let you near the oven after you blew it up last Christmas," Harry declared. Pouting Emma walked out of the kitchen.

"I'll take care of it," volunteered Anna, "If I were you, go talk with Ginny."

"Why?" Harry asked.

"She's a pureblood and she's a slave. Ginny isn't used to interacting with other guys. I think she was just trying to make conversation. And I think she forgot for a moment who mum was exactly. Well, wait, no. I think only Sirius and Remus know that mum was originally a slave. As Lily Potter people aren't wondering what slaveholder she originated out of. They just recognize her as some pureblood who married James after his slave girl died giving birth to their James' son."

"Fine," huffed Harry as he made his way out of the room.

"You like her admit it!" Anna called after her brother. Smirking, as she got no answer Anna went to peering into the oven.

"How the hell do you know he likes Ginny?" asked Emma as she picked at the left over batter that sat in the unwashed bowl. It was an annoying habit of Emma's to leave the room when she wasn't wanted and reappear without a sound as the person who had been annoyed with her left. The twins got along with Harry pretty well. Bickering between the siblings was unavoidable, but it didn't happen often. And if anyone, Emma was the one who started the bickering.

"It's in his eyes," answered Anna as she removed a pan of cookies from the oven. Looking at her twin's confused face she continued, "He has the same look in his eyes that dad does when he's talking to mum."

"The 'please don't murder me' look?"

"No! If you'd ever watch our parents interact when dad hasn't angered mum, you'd know. It's the love at first sight look. That doesn't happen often either," Anna explained. Narrowing her eyes, Emma nodded her understanding.

"Gin?" Harry called out as he stepped onto the overhang above the front porch. Ginny sat on the roof, her head resting upon her knees.

"Go away," she moaned. Ignoring her command, Harry started to inch closer to get. The roof was slightly slick as it was covered in a thin layer of ice. In her haste Ginny had climbed onto the roof without bringing a cloak with her.

"You're probably cold," Harry sighed as he inched closer to her. Snapping her head up Ginny glared at him. Her face was red not only from the cold, but from the visible trail of tears she had been crying.

"And your point being?" retorted Ginny. Wincing slightly Harry sat down next to her.

"I'm an ass," Harry stated simply. Taken back from his statement Ginny stared at him with her mouth hanging slightly open. "You asked a question that I over reacted to. People at Hogwarts always claim I was born to some street whore because I can't tell them that my mother is the only slave to have figured out a way to escape slavery without getting killed. I'm sorry for how I reacted. I shouldn't have asked you how you became a slave, I can tell it's a sore subject."

"You got the ass part right," muttered Ginny as she slid closer to Harry. "But what I asked was just rude. I didn't realize that you didn't like being asked about your mother so much." Chuckling at her, Harry pulled her onto his lap, wrapping Ginny in his cloak. Peering up at Harry in confusion Ginny didn't object to being kept warm.

"You looked cold," Harry offered as his only explanation. Not arguing Ginny leaned her head up against his chest. "And it's okay about what you asked. Contrary to popular belief Lily is my birth mother. It's something that her and my dad want to keep quiet for fear of what would happen to her, seeing as my mum's a muggle born witch."

"Why are you even at Hogwarts?" Ginny asked, "Voldemort runs the school. And from what I hear getting in is no easy task."

"Personal reasons more than anything," chuckled Harry, "If you've ever heard the muggle expression, keep your friends close but your enemies closer you'd understand a bit."

"Kinda," mumbled Ginny. She looked up at the clear skies above the house. It had been the longest time since she had been able to actually see the stars. A lone star flew across the sky.

"Make a wish," Harry whispered. Looking up at the star Ginny sighed. "Did you make a wish?"

"Yep."

"I hope it comes true."

"So do I."

Christmas morning Ginny woke up to find herself buried under a warm comforter. Remembering that she was supposed to be sleeping on the couch, and it didn't have a thick comforter Ginny poked her head out from underneath the warmth. Seeing a white piece of paper taped to the headboard of the bed she grabbed it, and read it as she sat up.

_Ginny,_

_You looked too peaceful to wake up last night so I took the liberty of carrying you to my bed. Don't worry I spent the night on the couch (and I really don't mind). Don't let the twins end up waking you up. If you're not up by ten the twins will find a way into the room and pounce on you. If you were where I am, they'd wake you up at six or so. Grown up as they are they still get excited for Christmas. See you when you wake._

Harry 

Rubbing the sleep out of her eyes Ginny tossed the covers off herself, taking the time to notice it was just past eight. The twins would greatly appreciate it if she was downstairs as soon as possible. So she grudgingly grabbed Harry's cloak from the end of the bed and wrapped herself in it. Last night she had foolishly went out on the font porch roof without anything to keep her warm. Lucky for her Harry had ended up outside when he did. The chill still hadn't worn off.

As Ginny made her way down the stairs voices floated up her way. Not being fully awake she didn't understand what they were saying. Making her way to the front room where the Christmas tree was, Ginny was bombarded by a red and green Christmas spirit.

"Ginny, you're up!" Emma exclaimed happily as she engulfed Ginny in a hug. Yawning, Ginny nodded in response. Attempting to rub some of the sleep out of her eyes Ginny saw that Harry was in about the same state as she was, if not worse. Anna was rereading one of her various books, while Mr. And Mrs. Potter were talking softly.

"If I were you Em, I'd leave her alone," moaned Harry. Sticking her tongue out at her older brother Emma flopped down on the sofa next to her sister.

"Glad to see that the twins didn't have to wake you up," Lily said brightly.

"I didn't have the luck of escaping that," Harry muttered unhappily. He swiftly received a thump on the head with a book due to his response.

"Well considering everyone is up, I say we open presents before Emma decides to start singing another round of Deck the Halls," suggested Anna.

"Hey, there is nothing wrong with my singing!" Emma retorted. Silently Anna nodded, the look on her face said other wise.

"On to more interesting subjects," James interrupted, "Presents." There weren't many presents underneath the tree. Harry had explained on the roof last night that the presents were exchanged by family members. Basically, you gave one you got one from someone else.

Light conversation ensued as the wrapping paper flew about. Ginny had a hard time finding presents for people considering she didn't have any money. For Lily she had managed to find some flower seeds that she had stolen from the Malfoy's storage house. James got a deck of cards, seeing as that was what he had used to save Ginny's and Hermione's lives. Anna and Emma were each gifted with gingerbread men. And Harry had been the hardest to scavenge for. In the end, Ginny had ended up finding a few muggle photographs of Harry, Ron, and other various people and created a drawn collage of everything. The presents had earned Ginny a heartfelt thank you from each of the Potter members, as well as a laugh from James who had seen the cards had been modified by Ginny's artful touch. The suits stayed the same, but the people on the cards had been personalized.

In return Ginny had gotten some useful items. Lily had given her a history book on wizard slavery, while James had some how found vanilla perfume, Ginny's personal favorite. The twins had given her a combined gift of drawing paper and a few charcoal pencils. Both joking that Santa had found her bad enough to give her coal.

"Thanks," Ginny mustered out as her eyes filled with tears. It had been years since she had actually received Christmas gifts and these happened to be the best yet. She wasn't going to burst their bubble and say the best gift she got was a toilet seat from Fred and George. Her mother had freaked out when the Hogwarts owl had come home with that.

"You'll get your gift from me later," Harry whispered in Ginny's ear, as there was a knock on the door. Without anyone getting up, Sirius walked in the door, carrying a young woman in his arms.

"You do realize I can walk don't you?" the women asked as Sirius set her back on the ground. She brushed the snowflakes off of her black robe.

"You can?" Sirius asked. Ignoring the comment the young women hung her cloak on the rack along with slipping her dragon hide boots off. Sirius smiled at the Potter family, whom were all giving him various glares for his stupidity.

"Hello everyone," Sirius greeted, "This here is Mab." The young women waved as she sat down in the empty armchair near Ginny. Her long sandy blond hair was drawn into a single French braid that reached mid back.

"It's nice to finally meet you," Lily said warmly, "Sirius has said nothing but good things about you."

"It's all lies knowing Sirius," Mab joked.

"When isn't it?" the twins coursed. Laughing at the girls. Sirius introduced everyone to his fiancé. To Ginny, Mab seemed friendly, but the woman was slightly uneasy. Ginny couldn't blame her; at first glance the Potters did seem rather intimidating.

The rest of Christmas proceeded on cheerfully. House elves had managed to prepare a large feast for the eight people who were currently in the house. To Ginny, every morsel was heavenly, but nothing could ever match the homemade cooking of her mother.

As the group sat eating Mab willing answered questions about herself. She was a pureblood and had attended Hogwarts, managing to graduate near the head of her class. She had two older siblings, and a twin. She didn't talk with either of her brothers, as they didn't approve of her dating a blood traitor. As for her older sister, she hadn't seen her in years because her sister had married a vampire. Mab had ended up meeting Sirius at in Diagon Alley when Sirius had managed to drop his wand. Before anyone could pick it up, Mab had it in her hand and had managed to chase down Sirius. Sirius being stupid as usual didn't believe it was his wand, until he couldn't find it. The two had ended up meeting for some drinks in Hogsmeade and the relationship had taken off from there.


	9. Chapter 9

_Disclaimer_- _I'm a poor college student, that means I don't have enough money to buy the rights for this story. I just play around with the ideas that Rowling presents._

_A/N _So sorry about how long it's taken me to post this! Finals are creeping closer and my professors have decided to give a crap load of projects to us all. And I did end up having guy problems on top of that, too. I hate it when guys won't leave you alone, but that's all good now. I had to rewrite this chapter before I was actually satisfied with it. The flashback was from the original write of it, and I managed to fit it in! Happy reading all.

**Chapter Nine**

_The Past, the Present, and the Future_

A soft pattering of rain was heard on the roof of the Potter Manor, and Ginny was up in the attic closest to the sound. She had always found the rain comforting, right now she needed all the comfort she could get. Many thoughts had been swimming around in her head. Harry had told her that he might never see her again, and refused to tell her why.

It was now late April, exactly three weeks since she had last seen Harry. The house had taken on an unusual quiet with Harry's absence. Right before he left after Christmas, he had given Ginny a memory that would forever be stuck in her memory; her first kiss.

Raising her hand to her lips, Ginny could easily recall the soft, yet tenderness that had met Harry's own lips. The kiss was gentle, yet passionate. The night she had spent on the sofa with him had been well worth waking up with such a stiff neck. A look of longing came across her face as she remembered the night that it had all happened. To say the least, kissing had probably been the most innocent thing they had done all night.

"_That was entertaining," Ginny announced as she flopped down on the sofa in the front room. Harry sat down next to her, trying to conceal a yawn. The night had been long, but fun. The food was almost as good as Ginny was used to, and Lily made it all. _

"_It's like this every year. Well, except for the fact Mab was here," Harry stated. Chuckling, Ginny leaned towards Harry, resting her head against his chest. Sirius and James had broken out the liquor, much to their wife or fiancé's dismay. And after many, many glasses of what Lily deemed "vile" liquid, the two were both very smashed. The two had gotten to tell some rather amusing stories about their days at Hogwarts._

"_For the first time in years, Christmas has been enjoyable," sighed Ginny, "So, what exactly are you waiting to give me?" Her eyes sparkled with anticipation. It had been a long time ago since someone had made her wait for a certain present. The last time she could remember it happening was on her eleventh birthday, when she had received her wand._

"_You were just waiting for everyone to go away weren't you?" Harry chuckled. Shifting around, Ginny sat up and looked at Harry. He got up off the sofa and picked up a small box from underneath the skirt of the tree. The box was covered in silver wrapping paper, with a small red ribbon covering it._

"_Well when you said you'd give it to me later, I was rather curious what you were giving me that your siblings and parents couldn't see," responded Ginny as Harry handed her the package. Harry shrugged as Ginny gently took the wrapping paper off the present. Inside the shiny paper was a small, velvet covered box in which she found a necklace. Gasping, Ginny pulled the silver necklace out. It was a silver chain that held a small charm on it. The charm was strands of the silver metal wrapped around a glowing ball and scattered across the strands were emeralds and diamonds. Moonlight made the gemstones sparkle in the night, giving the necklace a magical feeling. _

"_My mum gave it to me," Harry explained as he helped Ginny put the necklace on, "My father gave it to her the day before he left the Black Estate for the last time. The necklace itself is magic, but I don't know how to get it to work. My mum gave it to me to give to the girl who managed to capture my heart. I think it will help you in escaping slavery, or at least I hope it does."_

"_It's too bad that you can't just give me my freedom," Ginny mumbled as she turned the charm over in her hands. The ball of light gave off a slight bit of heat, and softly glowed different colors as Ginny moved it around._

"_I know," sighed Harry. "But laws are laws. It's always been that no witch or wizard can free his or her slaves. You've got to figure out how to earn your freedom. My mother did."_

"_Wait a minute, your mother was the only slave to escape slavery?" Ginny asked. Harry nodded slowly. "How the hell did your mother manage that? No slave has ever accomplished getting out of his or her bonds. Slaves are charmed by the Ministry to be monitored if they're doing illegal magic."_

"_I haven't the slightest clue how she accomplished it," answered Harry. Disappointed, Ginny leaned up against Harry. For a moment, neither of the two had a care as they sat on the sofa. In comfort, Ginny snuggled closer to Harry._

Wiping a lone tear out of the corner of her eye, Ginny took a few calming breaths. Sirius was coming over sometime today, and a few chores still needed to get done. They mostly had to do with baking something. Lily had understood that she liked to do it, and had asked her to make a few items. Standing up and brushing off her skirt, Ginny had wished she had told Harry on Christmas that she had cared for him, too. She had told him over his spring break that she cared for him, but it would have suited the moment better that Christmas night.

Carefully Ginny made her way down the rickety old stairs that led up to the Potters' attic. Last time Harry had escaped a weekend from school, he had shown her the place, saying that few people ever ventured up there. It was his last gift to Ginny so that she could be left alone for a while. The stairs that led up to the place were rotting away and a bit dangerous, but if you knew where all to step then you were fine.

When she was finally at the bottom of the stairs, she could hear Sirius in the kitchen trying to beg for Lily's forgiveness for something. Ginny had a sneaking suspicion that he had eaten something that Lily had needed. It was a usual occurrence in the household with some male eating the cooking that Lily was doing before they were actually allowed to eat it.

"What do we have here?" a voice behind Ginny asked. The voice was familiar, but still slightly unrecognizable. Is if it had been a long time since Ginny had heard it, and it had changed slightly in that time.

"I don't know, dear brother," another voice responded. A smile appeared on Ginny's face as she turned around. Her twin brothers, Fred and George were standing behind her with their usual relaxed looks on their faces. Almost nothing could faze the twins out of their odd moods. That wasn't always a good thing, but when Ginny was sad, it was almost always the twins who brightened her up.

"You're…you're alive," breathed Ginny as she looked over her elder siblings. The twins had been well fed, and from the look their muscles, well worked, too. Neither looked like they had received any kind of beatings or foul treatment from any one of their previous masters, or mistresses. Their eyes were still sparkling with mischief, something Ginny was relieved to see. Even slavery couldn't kill the happy-go-lucky spirit of the two.

Without a second thought, Ginny rushed at her brothers, quickly hugging both of them. It had been five long years since she had seen the twin terrors she called brothers. Happy wasn't the word that described what she was feeling at the moment. Her eyes started to water as she stepped back from the two.

"Well, Fred, I think our favorite sister is happy to see us."

"I agree, George. How long has it been? Two, three years?"

"No, no, more like ten."

"I could have sworn it was shorter than that. Too bad we're just poor, uneducated slaves who can't count."

"Shut up you two," Ginny laughed, "It's been five years since Fudge decided to be an ass. And five years has been too long."

"Five?" asked Fred in mock surprise.

"Oh dear, not five," George mocked. Ginny rolled at eyes at her brother's lack of maturity. Nothing could kill their sense of humor, unless you actually killed one of them. Then again, their mum had tried to end Fred and George's lives quite often with how much they had destroyed their room. And had blown up other random things at the Burrow, accidentally blowing up the kitchen had been the closest call to end their lives.

"Well I missed you two, too," Ginny chuckled. Her brothers smiled. "So have you two found anyway to escape the slavery spell?" she asked seriously.

"Our darling sister wants to know if we figured out how to escape the horrors of slavery," George said to Fred. Groaning, Ginny knew that her brother's were going to be pains in getting to the answer. It probably meant they had a faint idea of how to save themselves, but not enough of one to have a plan. That directly led to them beating around the bush, multiple times.

"I daresay we have put some thought into that effort."

"Thinking for us can be dangerous."

"Yes, yes it can. But I dare say that something good came out of it."

"Escape. Such a lovely word that all slaves long for."

"It's just a dream they all tell us."

"Freedom doesn't exist."

"Unless you count death as freedom."

"And being dead is bad."

"But there was that one slave who did manage to escape. She got pregnant by Potter."

"As you can see for us, we can't get pregnant."

"So that puts a small flaw in our plans."

"Would you two stop it and get to the point!" Ginny demanded. If she didn't interrupt, the twins would go into the history of anything and everything that related to slavery. Or just keep randomly babbling on.

"Fine, ruin our fun," mumbled Fred. Out of his pocket he pulled out a tattered envelope. Handing it to Ginny, he looked over to George so he could explain what the old envelope contained.

"We found the envelope in one of the boxes in Sirius's attic, or one of his closets. Whatever, where we found it isn't important," George said, "As you will read in the letter, it has our ticket to the way out. But it only tells us where to go, now how to get it."

Gently opening the fragile piece of paper, Ginny slipped a well-worn letter out of it. The paper was smeared with dirt and ink, and in a few places there were teardrops. Glancing it over she started to read part of it out loud, "My dearest love, I know you yearn for your freedom. You have my warmest wishes that you escape. The necklace that I gave you will open places that even I cannot dream of leading you to. If only deep within the Ministry do you head where it all began can you undone the unjust that has been done to you. You must once again reclaim your power and use it against the men who bound you into servitude." Realization dawning on her, Ginny handed the letter back to George.

"Gin, are you okay?" Fred asked. Ginny's face had paled and she was trembling a bit.

"Yeah, I'm fine," replied Ginny.

"What did you end up figuring out?" George asked, "We just found the letter and it in itself should be enough to get us freedom, right?

"Not exactly," Ginny responded, "Whoever wrote this, it was to a slave. I'm guessing it was a he too. So for the sake of my explanation the writer is a he, and the person the letter was given to is a she." The twins nodded their understanding. Ginny was giving them a warning to not make stupid comments while she was explaining what she had figured out. "But what the writer is saying is that the girl needs to go back to where ever the slavery-binding spell was cast to get it removed. So that means for us we need to get back to the Ministry, because that's where our spell was cast. Then some necklace is going to open the doors for her. How? I really don't know. But with you two, we should be able to figure it out, necklace or not. The final thing that is going to get us our freedom is getting our wands back! That's why slaves can't be freed! If we have wands then we can defend ourselves and remove the bloody curse."

"By Merlin, she's gone insane," muttered Fred. George nodded in agreement as the two looked at their sister, who was reading over the note one more time. "You're over analyzing it Ginny. There is no way that just because we get our wands back that we can become free."

"Well our wands won't do us any good unless we know the counter curse," Ginny snapped, "And I'm not losing my marbles. How many slaves do you know who have wands?"

"None, but Ginny—"

"No buts, Fred, that's why the Ministry has hold over us. Because we don't have our wands to remove the spells put on us! And very few witches and wizards have the counter curse. Each time they perform the spell, the counter curse changes, and no one knows what the overall counter curse is to free all the slaves. Old Voldemort is probably the only one who knows that. The pieces of the puzzle are coming together. You two got the note, I could possibly have the necklace, and, well I think all we need to do is find Ron," exclaimed Ginny. For a moment, Fred and George pondered the idea over in their heads. It made sense. Once a person was made a slave, their wands were taken away, and then the slavery-binding spell was cast.

"As crazy as it sounds, we'll go for it," the twins said in unison. Ginny smiled as she flung herself to embrace her brother's.

"You know what that means, George?"

"By Jove, I think I do!"

"We need to steal Ickle Ronnikins!"

"Umbridge won't know what hit her."

"Wait a minute," Ginny interrupted. The twins stopped their ranting to look at their sister. "Ron is with that horrid, horrid woman? The one who taught at Hogwarts the last year you we were there? The lady that you two wouldn't stop pranking? The very same lady that gave us all a speech on the uses of slaves?"

"The one and only little sis," George answered. A look of horror appeared on Ginny's face. Umbridge was an awful teacher, and a bit unusual with her punishments. If Ron was there, he would probably be on the brink of insanity.

"Well, since Sirius doesn't know we left, we're going to take off again. Mustn't get caught now!" Fred said cheerfully. They both gave Ginny one last hug before disappearing out of sight.

Tears of joy clouded Ginny's eyes as she walked into the kitchen where Sirius and Lily were still arguing. She had a few things to do in the area before she could once again go up to the attic to be alone. Having forced herself down the stairs had really paid off.


	10. Chapter 10

_Disclaimer_: Lowly college student. Enough said.

**Chapter Ten**

_The Bitter Taste of Freedom?_

The spring night never seemed so eerily quiet to Ginny as she sat on the overhang just outside her room. All day long Ginny had been helping Lily and Mab with planning Mab's wedding. It was rather nice to get away from a slightly hormonal Mab.

Tucking her hair behind her ear Ginny sighed. It had been a month since the twins had visited her. And that was the last she had heard from them. If they were smart they would have owled her. After all, it wasn't everyday that one found family they had been split from. Then again, the twins never did seem to have too much common sense. A few days after the twins had visited Ginny they had managed to completely disappear from Sirius' house. Sirius hadn't really cared that the twins had disappeared; he had ended up telling Lily last week that they had disappeared.

Crawling back inside Ginny stopped halfway in the window. She had heard voices and possibly someone climbing up the lattice of the porch below. Most of the time the voices she heard in the middle of the night were the twins, but she knew they were fast asleep at the moment. Plus, the twins voices never sounded so deep.

"Are you sure this is the room she's staying in?"

"Yes. It is my room after all." Ginny stifled a laugh as she recognized Harry's voice. She wasn't too sure who else was with him. As of them moment she was straining to hear Harry as it was.

"What the hell is my sister doing in your room!"

"Ron!" Ginny whispered to herself. Her closest brother had escaped from the horrible Umbridge. No doubt with help from the terrible twosome.

"Well, I hate to inform you, but I've been shagging your sister," Harry declared sarcastically.

"HEY!" three voices shouted simultaneously.

"What the hell are you three going to do when I actually get a boyfriend?" snarled Ginny as she peered over the edge of the overhang, "Kill him?"

Her three brothers looked at each other for a moment; all slightly disappointed they hadn't been able to surprise her. Harry on the other hand looked quite relived that his death was put off for a later time.

"Dearest Ginny-"

"We wouldn't dream of killing your future boyfriends-"

"Husbands yes-"

"Boyfriends, no-"

"We'd do you the greatest favor of-"

"Castrating your boyfriend-"

"After all-"

"It would solve the problem of you getting pregnant before you were married," Fred concluded.

"Then again," interjected George, "It would also be a slight problem for you to ever have children."

"Might be best to just grow up to be an old hag," Ron suggested.

"You three do realize that if I get a boyfriend, which is bound to happen, that you will be removing his manhood? Now I personally plan on dating a bit, not sleeping around. You all could have a bit more faith in me," snapped Ginny, "And if you do castrate the man I marry, I can't have children with him. So you're just encouraging me to have an affair so that I can have children. Now how would you feel doing that to the poor sap who will eventually be my husband?"

"I feel bad for the man you cheat on," muttered Ron.

"I'm guessing this would be a bad time to tell your brothers what the two of us did?" Harry asked.

"Yes, Harry it would," moaned Ginny.

"Did?"

"What did you do to are sister?"

"Ginny are you pregnant?"

"Harry, mate, I'm sorry. But I think we're going to have to educe punishment on you."

"Fred, George!" growled Ginny, "We only kissed. And if you dare, lay a finger on Harry I will make sure you won't live long enough to see any future nieces or nephews." The twins paled at Ginny's threat, while Ron just glared at Harry.

"Fine, fine. We won't harm him," promised the twins.

"Now that my life and private parts are safe. Ginny we need you to climb down the lattice," Harry said. Nodding her understanding Ginny started to make her way down. The boys had already made their descents as they were arguing and threatening future boyfriends.

Getting to the ground Ginny quickly was greeted with a hug from Ron, then the twins. Not wanting to leave Harry feeling left out she gave him one too.

"Only kissed?" Harry whispered as he held Ginny in his arms for a moment.

"Do you really wish to be castrated?" she snapped back. Letting her go, Harry laughed stiffly.

"Well, step two of _The Plan_ is complete George."

"All is going according to _The Plan_, this is a good sign Fred."

"Will you two stop it?" Ron snapped, "We don't have time again for the pair of you to argue and wake the house up."

"Fine," George snorted. Both twin were glaring at their younger brother for ruining their fun.

"You guys really do need to get the Ministry as soon as possible. The security won't be this lax for another month or so. And Ron does not have that time," Harry stated. The twins nodded as they bent down and searched through the long grass. Looking at Harry for an answer Ginny only received a shrug. After a moment of searching, and swearing the twins found what they were looking for. Each held two fairly new brooms.

"Where the hell did you get those?" demanded Ginny as Fred handed her the Nimbus 2000. She examined the fine broom waiting for an answer. The newest broom she had ever sat on had been a Cleansweep and that was not a fast broom at all.

"Get going," urged Harry, "It's been three hours since we got Ron away from Umbridge. She should wake up soon."

Not saying anything else the twins and Ron were up in the air. The twins were busy whispering which way was the quickest to go.

"I'll miss you Harry," Ginny said quietly as she hugged him again. Slipping out of his grasp she climbed on the broom and kicked off. Before she was totally out of Harry's reach he pulled her back and gently kissed her on the lips.

"Hey! Hands off our sister Potter!" the twins shouted. Blushing, Ginny flew over them leaving Harry on the ground almost blushing as badly as she was.

"Did you have to do that?" moaned Ron as if he was going to die. Ginny hit her brother on the arm as she flew past him.

"Good luck!" Harry called out after the four.

"We'll be back for you Potter!" Fred called out.

"And your little dog too!" followed George.

"I'll look forward to seeing you guys too," Harry responded tartly.

"Why did you have to do that?" hissed Ginny when they were far enough away from the Potter's house.

"Do what?" Ron asked, clueless as ever.

"Threaten him!"

"Come on now Ginny," sighed George.

"Was he really that important to you?"

"Would your opinion change if I told you I was pregnant with his child?" questioned Ginny. The twins stopped flying, looking over their sister carefully.

"If you are pregnant we are turning around right now and beating the shit out of him for defiling our precious sister," Ron growled.

"I'm not pregnant!" shouted Ginny. Her brother's looked at her with confused faces, not sure why the sure why the subject had been brought up in the first place. "You three can't expect me to go about life without experience at least some form of pleasure. No, it won't be sex. But me kissing a guy should not be a problem with you all!"

"So says you," grumbled Ron. The twins nodded in agreement as they flew on.

"I can't wait until the three of you have to deal with your girlfriends older brothers," snarled Ginny as she flew behind her brothers.

The rest of the trip to the Ministry was in silence. Ginny was still upset at her brother's for threatening Harry. And the three of them new better than to aggravate her anymore than she already was. The twins spent their time whispering to each other, out of earshot of Ginny.

By the time the twins started to descend Ginny was half asleep. The quiet flight had been somewhat relaxing for her. A sunrise was starting to peak out from behind the buildings. They four didn't have much time to get in and out of the Ministry without any major difficulties.

When they were within seeing distance of the grand Ministry building Ginny could see a shrouded figure trying to pick the lock to the building.

"Oi! Looks like someone else has the same idea we do," Fred observed.

"We're just going to have to help him," George said. The four quickly landed, not being heard by the figure, who was too preoccupied with trying to open the Ministry doors the muggle way.

"Having any luck?" Ron asked tartly. The figured turned around quickly, allowing the hood to fall off. Before the Weasleys stood a young woman with busy brown hair. And it didn't look like she was happy to see any of them.

"Hermoine?" Ginny gasped. The shrouded figure smiled as she recognized Ginny.

"Ginny, what are you doing here?"

"The same thing you are dear," answered Fred, "Enough chit chat, we need to get inside."

"What do you think I've been trying to do for the past hour? Draw pretty pictures on the door?" quipped Hermione. Ron stood spellbound by the fellow slave. Noticing this, Ginny gave her brother a shove, hoping that he would at least shut his mouth.

"Can I try before you guys attempt to blow the door up?" Ginny asked. Grumbling, the twins motioned for her to do whatever she wished. The Ministry doors were large wood panels that had intricate engravings in them. There was a small round hole right above the keyhole. It looked like someone had taken time to carve it into the door as it was well rounded, and not made of metal as the keyholes were.

Taking off the necklace Harry had given her, Ginny looked it over. The metal that was hanging down from the orb did not look like it would fit through the small hole. Regardless of what it looked like Ginny slipped the charm into the hole, metal things first. The metal pieces bent easily, making it able for the whole charm to fit into the small hole in the door. As she heard a soft click, she twisted the little bit of charm that was still outside and the door swung in. Removing the charm from the hole, she slid it back onto the necklace and returned it to her neck.

"How did you do that?" Hermione demanded. Smugly Ginny walked through the elaborate doors of the Ministry without offering Hermione an answer. Her brothers silently crept in behind her, Ron grabbing Hermione and pulling her along.

The corridors in the Ministry had many pictures hung on them. Luckily for the group most, if not all, of the people in them were sleeping or preoccupied. The twins took to leading them about, leaving Ron and Hermione time to share hushed whispers. Ginny lagged along a few steps behind them. She was trying to locate another door with a similar hole as the main doors did.

After a long time of walking, much of which was spent going in circles thanks to the twins lack sense of direction the group made it to a simple wood door that was at the end of a hallway. The hallway that Ron had managed to wander down had cobwebs hanging in the opening and he had screamed when he walked into them.

"This place is creepy," Hermione observed as the twins looked over the door. The hallway was rather short with black painted walls. It was as if the Ministry wanted to detour people from coming this way.

"Well, we have run into a problem," George announced as he turned away from the door.

"A large problem," agreed Fred, "The door has no keyhole or handle."

"You mean even if we managed to get it unlocked, we can't get it open?" questioned Hermione. The twins nodded sadly. For as far as they had got, they had reached a dead end. There would be no freedom at the end of their journey. Only a dementors kiss for those who dared trespass in the Ministry.

"Let me try," Ginny said. Grumbling the twins moved out of the way to let their little sister at the door. Ginny once again took off her necklace. She could feel a slight bit of warmth coming from the door. Holding the necklace out in front of the door she waited.

A groan came from the door as the lines in the wood started to shift. Slightly scared, Ginny backed up half a step. The door's wood had rearranged itself into the shape of a human face. Slowly the door's face opened its eyes, carefully taking in its surroundings.

"You most certainly do not look like Lily," it observed as it looked over Ginny, "Same hair color, but oh her eyes were the brightest green. Reminded me of when I used to have leaves. They were always bright and life like. Didn't have the determination that her eyes did. But my leaves used to be so pretty. You would have liked to see them-"

"Um… pardon me?" Ginny said hesitantly. Her brothers and Hermione stood behind her, shocked speechless. Never before had they heard of a talking door, much less seen one.

"Hm, I'm rambling again my dear. Sorry about that. Not too many people come by this way. Been about twenty years or so since I've talked to someone. The people who work here don't come by at all. Shame on them too, you think since they chopped me down and put me here they could at least take some time to come and chat with me. But no, no, they can't be bothered," huffed the door. "Now what can I do for you all?" it asked cheerfully.

"You could let us by," the twins suggested.

"And why would I do that?" the door asked, "The people who wish to get beyond me only go to deposit old, useless wands. Those poor branches were once trees you know, kin to me. But oh no, I'm just a door, I shouldn't have feelings about the useless things they put behind me. You lot are probably just going to go behind me and create a bunch of havoc. I won't allow that!"

"Actually Mr. Door, we wanted to get by you so we could recover those branches. You see the branches are our wands, well actually their wands I never had one," Hermione explained, "The Ministry puts the wands behind you so the people they decide to deprive of magic are unable to use their natural abilities. And that isn't fair at all. So if you'd be so kind as to open for us so we can get our wands we'd be forever grateful."

The door pondered Hermione's reasoning for a bit before swinging open. Mumbling their thanks the group hurried through the door before it decided to change its mind.

"Now is there anything we can do for you?" Ginny asked as she walked through.

"Nope," the door answered as it slammed shut. Replacing the necklace back on she glanced around the large room. There were many shelves with a large quantity of boxes on them.

"Gin, how are we supposed to find our wands?" Ron asked as he kept looking at the different rows.

"I don't know."

"There must be some way in which the Minstry organized this room," Hermione observed. She walked up to a podium that had a large book placed on top of it. Thumbing through it she glanced over the pages.

"Finding anything useful?" Ginny asked. Hermione nodded as she stopped on a particular page. The rows started to move about and boxes were shuffling as Hermione was reading over something.

"I think I found a way to remove the spell!" she exclaimed. As she did so two identical looking green and orange-stripped boxes flew into the heads of Fred and George, leaving the twins cursing at the things. A puce box flew to Ron, hovering above his head for a moment, and then dropping on him. It was another moment before an emerald green box came floating in front of Ginny. Her box floated nicely until she grabbed it. Hermione was surprised when a scarlet and gold box came to a stop at her feet.

The twins quickly open their boxes to find their precious wands inside. After taking a moment to look over his box, to make sure it wouldn't attack him, Ron found the same thing.

"They're wand boxes?" Hermione asked. Ginny opened her box to take out her precious wand. She might not have seen it in over five years, but she could still feel the special bond she had with the piece of wood.

"No Hermione, they are boxes containing chocolate wands," answer Ron as he looked over his wand.

"There was no need to be sarcastic," huffed Hermione, "Why do I get one?"

"You're a witch," Fred noted

"Why wouldn't you get one?" concluded George.

"I was taken and sold before I could ever receive my wand," Hermione answered softly. She took her time in opening the box as it revealed her wand. The think piece of wood was looked over by Hermione, as she wasn't too sure what to make of it.

"Well, good old Ollivander must have known what your wand would have been," Ginny said, "Now I think we need to get out of he-"

"I say open up!" a voice shouted from the other side of the door. The group froze as they realized that there was no other way out.

"Shite!" the group coursed as they realized they were going to have to face the minister and aurors. There was a high price to pay for breaking into the Ministry, and probably an even higher one for stealing their wands back.

"And why should I?" inquired the door, "You ignore me for years. Silencing me when you do want to get by. Why can't you at least take some time out of our busy schedules to have a short little conversation with me?"

"Either you open up now, or I am going to make sure you are turned into ashes by the end of the week," growled the voice. The door continued to argue on for a moment.

"Do you all remember the spell that was said to imprison you?" Hermione whispered. The Weasley's nodded. "Well, remember the English Empire and its colonies. The counter curse is in that language!"

As the twins and Ron gave Hermione a confused look the door burst open. A few Aurors and the Minister of Magic, Fudge came through the door, all with looks of anger on their faces.

"You are all charge with breaking and entering Ministry property. As well as breaking the slave laws that are in place," Fudge said as the Aurors approached each individual.

Hermione looked like she had seen a ghost, as she was pale as chalk. The boys looked rather confused at what Hermione was trying to tell them. And Ginny was thinking, oblivious to everything around her.

"_Insurgo insurgi insurrectum_!" Ginny shouted. As the words left her mouth, a think black wisp of smoke jetted out of her wand. The Aurors stopped advancing as the smoke turned into a link of chains. The chains rested on Ginny's wrists, ankles, and around her neck, much like the chains that she had when she was being transported as a slave. Slowly the chains started to crumble, marking her as free. Behind her, chains had appeared on her brothers and Hermione with her incantation, and they were following the same suit in crumbling.

"You might be freed, but you are still under the laws of the Ministry," Fudge announced. As Ginny paled drastically she could hear Fred and George swearing up a storm. Hermione gave a small squeak of surprise; apparently she had overlooked one flaw to her usually well thought out plans. Ron on the other hand, was looking at the Minister of Magic as if he had gained another head.

"That's just bloody great!" snapped Ginny as the Aurors muttered a simple freezing spell. After getting free, the group had another large problem on their hands.

insurgo insurgi insurrectum is Latin. I don't speak Latin, just courtesy of an online translator. So I apologize if it is off.

A/N I am terribly sorry for not updating sooner! I had wonderful finals for college and that stopped me from updating. Then I came home and I work full time when I'm home. That eats up a lot of time. And the wonderful holidays too. Plus it has been nice where I live, as opposed to the freezing cold it usually is in December, so I've been outside. Hope you all had a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!


	11. Chapter 11

_Disclaimer_: All rights are reserved for JKR. Although, I'm seriously surprised they're all hers. I mean come on, ever read LOTRs? I digress, on with the story!

**Chapter Eleven**

_Duck and Cover Would be the Best Option_

As Fudge rambled on about what charges the group would be facing as a whole, then as individuals, the Aurors led them out of the room and down one of the many winding hallways. With the first step she had taken Ginny had blocked Fudge's annoying voice from the depths of her mind. There had to be some way out of the corner they were all blocked into. And Fudge blabbering on about how they would all be sent to Azkaban was not helping Ginny's concentration in the slightest.

_Tap_

Hermione was shaking as she kept glancing at the Aurors who stood next to her. After being a slave in the Malfoy household for so many years she was no stranger to harsh beatings. At the moment she was not help to Ginny who was trying desperately to see some small flaw with Fudge's reasoning; she couldn't. The twins and Ron were looking rather downtrodden, as they were powerless to do anything. Ron occasionally glanced back at Hermione, which kept Ginny giggling much to Fudge's dismay.

_Tap_

Hearing about how they were all going to be charged with breaking an entering, Ginny glared at Fudge. It had to be at least the fifth time he had mentioned that in the past five minutes. They'd been walking down the hallway for perhaps ten.

_Tap_

"Shut the bloody hell up already!" Ginny snarled. Fudge stopped, flabbergasted at what the girl demanded. Being the all holy Minister of Magic, Fudge was not used to being spoken to in such a tone of voice.

"Excuse me?" Fudge asked. He wasn't sure he had heard the girl right. After all, he was getting older and his hearing might have started to go. Just might, he wasn't ready to admit that he was having trouble with any bodily function. Admitting sickness or loss of anything was weakness in Fudge's eyes, and he didn't want the public to see him as weak.

_Tap tap_

"Shut the bloody hell up," snipped Ginny, "You heard me the first time! Maybe if you took time to listen to people rather than yourself, the magical world wouldn't be facing the problems with Voldemort that it is at the moment. Merlin forbid you actually do anything with your power as Minister. Oh wait, that doesn't include throwing large Ministry functions, or banning dangerous beasts such as werewolves from existing!"

"What would you know," Fudge scoffed, "You're just a slave-"

"Technically we're free," interjected Hermione as she looked around to see what the tapping sound was.

"Sorry, you're just a former slave. Which means you're unintelligent. What would you even begin to know about the vast complex working of this fine Ministry?" posed Fudge. He drew himself up as if to gather all of himself together in an attempt to look more important than he rally was.

"First off, you dimwit, I wasn't a slave until after I turned twelve. Considering you won't be able to do the math, I was free twelve years; as opposed to the five years I was a slave. And to save your fragile brain from doing simple arithmetic, that's seventeen years total," Ginny snarled. She stared at Fudge with great dislike burning in her eyes. In his poor attempt to show that he was not afraid of the young redhead, Fudge tugged on the collar of his shirt, muttering something to one of the Aurors next to him.

_Tap, tap, tap_

"Just because you were free means nothing-"

_THUD_

Hermione let out a sigh of relief as the annoying tapping finally stopped. Half frightened, Fudge gave a look behind the group only to have his face pale. Whatever it was that had stopped behind them seemed to be Fudge's worst nightmare.

"I zink dat zees poor children zhould be let go," a soft yet firm voice suggested. Jumping slightly at the noise, Ginny turned around.

Behind them was an elderly lady. If it was even possible, she looked seemingly older than Dumbledore. Her long silver hair had been carefully braided and pulled around the top of her head. The mysterious women stood up straight with a solid oak staff in one of her hands. It had been the stave she was walking with that had made the tapping noise through the stone hallway.

Fudge did not look happy to see the woman. She smiled at Fudge as her looks gradually began to change. Her silver hair changed to golden curls that hung down her back. The elderly lady's face slowly lost its wrinkles at it quickly began to look younger.

"Finally! I did not zink zat de zpell vould lazt zo long!" the stave wielder declared.

"Amilee, you are not needed here," Fudge sighed. The lady, Amilee, tilted her head to the side looking over the group.

"But, Minizter, it looks like zey are freed zlaves. And, if I'm not miztaken, they are mine to deal vit," Amilee reasoned. Muttering curses under his breath, Fudge threw his hands up in the air as a sign that he had given up.

"Do with them what you will," snarled Fudge, disappointed he wasn't able to throw anyone in Azkaban for the day. "Then find some spell that helps with your accent!"

"I told you, it doez not always work like dat," Amilee smiled. Fudge just seemed even more angry that his employee was having trouble with her sentences, as he crossed his arms.

"You are Fred, George, Ron, and Ginny Weazley?" Amilee asked the redheads. The four nodded. "Dat must make you Hermione Granger? Well den, I do believe that you have zome rightz now dat you are free. Dose rightz Minizter Fugde probably forgot to mention."

"Wait a minute," said Fred.

"Haven't we always had rights?" questioned George.

"Even as slaves."

"We had some form of rights."

"So what, they sucked."

"They were still rights!"

"Now you're saying we never had rights to begin with?"

"Sheesh, what is the world coming to?"

"You mizunderztand me," chuckled Amilee, "You have always had rightz, but as newly freed zlaves you have a whole other set of rightz."

"That makes sense," Hermione observed. The twins sent her a harsh glare, as they couldn't go on with their bantering.

"That iz good," Amilee said, "Zince most of you were free you can go back to your lives as long as you have no other interaction with fellow or former zlaves and owners. Az long az a family member comes to claim you within two hours of getting your wandz you are free to go. That means in zix minutes, since Fudge has been leading you around in zircles."

"What!" the Weasley's exclaimed as they glared at Fudge. The Minister of Magic made a poor attempt at looking innocent as a slight smirk appeared across his face.

"Az for you, Hermione," Amilee began, "You were never considered a free vitch to begin vit. Az vit de two hour time limit, zome family has to claim you to them. If you are young enough it can be as an adoptive child. But zince you are over the legal wizarding age of seventeen, it has to be through marriage."

"I'm never going to be free," Hermione realized. Tears started to well up in her eyes as the dream of being free had quickly slipped out of her grasp.

"Well, in that case I'll just be taking them along," Fudge said merrily. He started to walk by Amilee, but fell flat on his face as he tripped over her walking stave.

"Not zo fast, Fugde," Amilee said slyly, "I have two notes here." She held up to pieces of parchment that had some kind of ink smudges on them. Ginny hoped that those smudges were writing.

"Oh?"

"De notes are from two families. One if from a Mister and Misses Bill Weazley zaying, that dey will be here to pick up dere former zlave as they have zeen to it dat she vill be placed in a marriage. De other is from a Mister and Misses Arthur Weazley, vhich vas taken from a Howler, that dey are here to pick dere children up now. And if the misses catches zight of you, you will be vishing that you had crawled back into the hole you had come from. I will take dem back to the entrance now."

Grumbling, Fudge pushed past Amilee, giving a signal to the Aurors to disappear. When Fudge was gone, Amilee smiled quickly at the group before taking off down the hall.

"Quickly now! We only have a few precious moments to get you back to your families before that spell wears off!" Amilee announced. The twins looked at each other before joining their siblings and Hermione running after the odd girl.

"How did you loose the accent?" Hermione panted as she attempted to keep up with Amilee.

"Easy, living in England most of my life," laughed Amilee, "My parents are French and German. I visit my grandparents in France and Germany often. Fudge doesn't like when I come back with a slight accent, so I just keep it all year round to annoy him. Combing the two accents drives him nuts too. He's placed me in a few programs to rid me of the letters and words I don't pronounce to his liking, but for some reason the problem doesn't go away. Enough talk, follow!" If possible, the girl tore down the hallway even faster. Knowing they would be lost if they didn't follow her the group sprinted as fast as they could to keep up.

The hallways quickly started to look familiar again. Paintings on the wall had come to life, each one saying some comment on the newly escaped slaves. Some were of congratulations, others were of death wishes. It really didn't matter, seeing that if they didn't get to the main entrance within the next minute or so they were back to being slaves again.

Coming to a stop in the main lobby, the group panted. They were not used to running that fast for such a long time. Amilee on the other hand seemed just peachy, as she quickly regained her breath.

"MY POOR DARLING CHILDREN!" an overly excited Mrs. Weasley proclaimed as she set sight eyes on her youngest children for the first time in five years. She tearfully engulfed an unsuspecting Ron in a hug, before moving on to the twins and Ginny. While the Weasley children were busy dealing with their mother Hermione slowly walked over to Bill and his wife.

"Mum! Please stop with all the embracing and such," Ron moaned as his mother proceeded to hug him for the tenth time.

"Ronald Billius, I haven't seen you in five years! I think that allows me to shower you with all you've been missing over the years," Mrs. Weasley huffed as she started to look over Ginny.

"Ron, listen to your mother," advised Mr. Weasley as he hugged the twins. Lowering his voice he added, "She's been rather emotional since we got the owl saying you were a wanted slave."

"Bill, when did you marry?" Ginny asked as soon as her mother was done with her inspection. Bill smirked as he gave his wife's hand a squeeze.

"It's been about two years since the wedding," answered Bill, "and another two months since the birth of your first nephew. Pardon my manners, this is Fleur, your sister-in-law." Timidly, Fleur smiled at Ginny. The blonde was nothing like what Ginny had imagined her older brother marrying, but as long as the boy was happy, she wasn't going to complain.

"Nice to meet you, Fleur," Ginny said as she looked her sister in law over. A confused looked appeared on Fleur's face as she looked at Bill.

"Oh! Yeah, Fleur doesn't speak much English, and what little she does speak isn't good," he explained sheepishly. He muttered a translation to Fleur who smiled and nodded at her.

"So you had Hermione as a slave?" Ginny asked as her mother was fusing over the boys. Bill nodded as Hermione had started a conversation in French with Fleur. "Who exactly is she marrying?"

"That I can't tell you," answered Bill, "Mum will later, or rather, after I tell Mum, she'll tell you. It would just be too much excitement in one day for her. Plus I really don't want to have to deal with her yelling at me because I had part in an arranged marriage. You know how Mum feels about those. Says people need to figure out who they love, not be forced into it."

"She does have a point, but without that arranged marriage, Hermione would yet again be a slave," Ginny pondered, "So when was my nephew born and what's his name?"

"Always changing the subject," chuckled Bill, "Well, Jacques William Weasley was born March 29th, otherwise known as Jake to all but his mother, who is still having trouble saying Jake. You'll meet him when you come over one of the times to help Hermione with her wedding."

"Fine by me," Ginny said cheerfully, "So, what's new in the world?"

"You really want to know, Gin?" sighed Bill. Rather confused, Ginny nodded. Slaves weren't kept up on what was happening outside the home. Masters and guests alike were careful in what to say around the slaves, as if something that would slip out of their mouths would spark a slave rebellion. "Someone has stepped up to take Voldemort out."

"What?"

"Some crazy guy has come forward with a plan to get He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named out of power, and well out of the picture in general. This isn't just another crazy-ass maniac who is dead set on attacking He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, he has a plan, and a good one at that. The guy's constructed a group of the best fighters in England and has been training with them. There's going to be a big battle, Gin, with death. A lot of it."

"Have you told Mum or Fleur you're going to be in the thick of it?"

"No, and you aren't, either."

"And why not?"

"Let's just say I know you did more than just kiss Harry Potter."

"What how the heck did you find that out?" questioned Ginny, "Well, who says what you think I did is actually what I really did?" With a smirk on his face Bill bent over and whispered something in his sister's ear. Ginny's face went white as Bill had been well informed, then it went to a red, as she was embarrassed her brother had found out what she did.

"Fine," Ginny huffed. Her brother did have the upper hand on that. She wasn't in any power to be ratting him out.

"Let's just say in a week, you're going to be asking Mum quite a few questions about boys," Bill said nonchalantly. Arching her eyebrow Ginny inquired further, but Bill just shook his head.

"Wait a minute," whined Ginny, "Mum will talk to me for hours seeing as I haven't had 'the talk' yet. And you know that. It'll probably go longer if I'm asking about a boy! Fred, George, and Ron are going too, aren't they?"

"Damn it, you're too observant."

"With Hermione in your house, Fleur will be distracted because Hermione will have to ask someone about the wedding preparations. Not to mention if you're gone a few days you'll send Fleur over to mum for one reason or another and claim you're on business."

"That's not a bad idea, actually. Didn't have a plan to tell Fleur where I was going."

"Just be glad you have me."

"Oh I am, Gin, I am," muttered Bill as she gave his sister a hug.

"Just don't get yourself killed," Ginny whispered as she hugged her brother tighter. Bill laughed as he let Ginny go. Mrs. Weasley grabbed Ginny away from her older brother, looking her over for any unusual marks, making comments about how thin she had gotten.

With the attention off of them the twins started to walk out of the Ministry with their younger brother and father behind them. Fleur and Hermione had already vanished, leaving Ginny to her mother's lecturing.

A/N Well high shame on me. I keep forgetting to thank someone for an important input to the story. Ya'll remember how Ron was Umbridge's slave? Yes, (nod and smile) good. That idea was all thanks to _Tawa bids you a good day_. The gal deserves credit for giving me a few ideas of where to place Ron, but I used that one. I encourage you all to check out her stories too, they are in my opinion rather addicting.

Also, this might seem like the end, but oh, not it's not. The chapters go on. On another note, I have another story posted, if you'd like to check it out for me and a.) tell me how good it is, or b.) laugh at it. Feel free to do so.


	12. Chapter 12

_Disclaimer_: Once upon a time I was not a poor college student. But that doesn't mean I could afford to buy Harry Potter from Rowling. The books might have been better.

**Chapter Twelve**

_As the Battle Rages, She Weeps_

A soft, mysterious mist hung outside Hogwarts. It wasn't comforting to the group of people who were waiting outside floating in boats on the lake. The sun hadn't begun to make its rise into the sky yet, but when it did they'd be prepared.

Covered with long cloaks to conceal their identities, the group was slowly approaching the school. Luck was on their side with the presence of the fog. Without the covering that lingered over the lake as they approached Hogwarts, the group's sneak attack would all be for naught.

The group that sat waiting for the water to carry them to shore and for the sun to rise had deemed themselves the Resistance. They were the few people who were daring enough to stand up against Voldemort and his Death Eaters.

"Are you sure you want to go through with this, Harry?" one of the cloaked figures asked as the first boat drifted within reach of the shore. To his front, a cloaked figure turned around. Out of the hood one could only see two gleaming emerald orbs, filled with determination.

"It's now or never," answered Harry, "I can't keep putting this off forever. Either must die at the hand of the other, for neither can live while the other survives. Today, he'll die."

"Well, good luck, mate," the cloaked figure answered. Harry rolled his eyes at his comrade's response.

The men, and few women, who were hiding in the boats believed this to be a suicide mission. The last boats held the most inexperienced, while the ones that flanked Harry's were those of Aurors who were through with Fudge going along with Voldemort's commands; that Muggle-borns be made slaves.

"The sooner we get this over and done with, the sooner you can go back to planning your wedding. Just don't die," joked Harry. His friend promptly threw a pebble at him that had been at the bottom of the boat. Clearly the other cloaked figure was not happy with the idea of being married.

"It would be better if Mum wasn't so into it. I mean, Hermione is a nice girl and all, but if my Mum mentions grandkids once more I don't think I'll be able to handle it, mate." Harry laughed at his friend's response as the boat slowed to a stop.

The shore had finally come, and before the group was Hogwarts castle. Inside were enemies and friends alike. It was now time for the attack to happen. Looking back at the other boats that had stopped, Harry waved them forward, the signal to begin their advance, it was now or never, and no looking back.

* * *

The quiet chirping of small birds filled the air outside of the Burrow, or at least it did until Ginny threw one of her pillows out of the window, startling them. Tossing the covers back over her head, Ginny tried to hide in the old comfort of her bed, or any bed for that matter.

This morning was unlike most, and she didn't want to get up.Ginny wasn't looking forward to facing the world. An owl had flown in for her last night with an unsigned note. It had been from Harry saying that the attack was going down as the sun rose. It highly unsettled Ginny that Harry was most likely going to face his death this day. Rolling over, she tried to relax. If she could sleep through the day she wouldn't have to worry.

She'd gotten used to the absence of a bed, often sleeping on the floor or just the ground. Harry's bed had been incredibly comfortable, yet hers took some getting used to after the luxury of sleeping in the large, comfy bed.

"Ginny? Darling? Are you up yet?" Mrs. Weasley called up the stairs. Groaning and shoving a pillow over her head, Ginny made one last effort to try and go back to sleep. "We have wedding plans to finish up for Hermione. Get down here now!"

Choosing not to have her mother come up and get her, Ginny made an attempt to get out of bed. As much effort was required in getting up, Ginny came crashing to the floor. Hermione's wedding was the most important thing for Mrs. Weasley at the moment. Having six sons and only one daughter had meant only helping to plan one wedding, but Hermione had changed that. Since both her parents had been killed when she was taken as a slave, she'd asked Mrs. Weasley to help her out.

"I'm up and out of bed mum!" Ginny called out as she lay on the floor. True she was up and out of bed, but that didn't mean she'd stay up for long. Out of bed would make her mother happy.

"Get up off the floor!" responded Mrs. Weasley, "It won't do you any good lying there!" Preparing to retort to her mother, Ginny stopped before a word could get out of her mouth as a wave of nausea rushed over her. Quickly she made her way to the garbage can; she stuck her head over it and violently vomited up what she had eaten for supper the night before.

For a few moments Ginny stayed with her head over the garbage can as her stomach emptied itself. When her stomach was finished, Ginny quickly threw on a blouse and skirt, making her way downstairs before her mother could yell at her again.

Hermione was sitting at the table engaged in a conversation with Fleur and Mrs. Weasley. With Hermione helping her, Fleur was slowly learning more English words and how to string them into logical sentences. Today Fleur was without Jake, she had mentioned the day before that he was spending the day with her sister who was visiting from France.

"You finally decided to grace us with your presence," Mrs. Weasley commented to her daughter as she placed a plate on the table. Covering her mouth, Ginny pushed the plate away from her as she sat down. The small action did not go unnoticed by Hermione as she arched her eyebrow demanded an explanation. Ginny shook her head, as she didn't want to cause her mother to worry. The wedding was stressing Mrs. Weasley out enough.

"Something you want to tell us, Ginny?" Hermione asked innocently. Mrs. Weasley's eyes quickly flew to her daughter, looking her over. Glaring at her friend, Ginny shook her head.

"Mum, I'm fine," she whined, "I just don't feel like eating… It'll just come right back up anyway."

"You should eat, Ginny dear," chastised Mrs. Weasley, "It's all in your head. No one could be sick for a week like you've been. Now eat up and stop with the reasons you can't even touch my food." As she dragged her plate back in front of her, Ginny's eyes started to water. She had been able to pass off the fact she'd been puking for the past week to her mother claiming she had the flu, but the nausea wasn't going away, and it was becoming harder to keep telling her mom why she wasn't able to hold down food.

Slowly Ginny took her fork and stabbed at the scrambled eggs her mother had made. She'd never really been one for eggs when she wasn't feeling well, toast was more her fancy. Her mother's eyes were still upon her as she placed the forkful in her mouth. With a bit of chewing and a final swallow, she looked up to her mother.

"See, it's not so bad. To think young people these days are trying to stop eating in hopes of losing weight. Ginny, you're far too thin, you need to eat," Mrs. Weasley scolded. Hermione nodded in agreement as she went back to looking over something for her wedding plans.

Ginny took a few more bites of the food that sat in front of her before placing her fork down. The unfriendly feeling of bile rising up in her throat was coming back. Quickly she jumped up from her chair, barely making it to the kitchen sink as her food involuntarily came back up.

Upon her instincts as a mother, Mrs. Weasley was quickly besides Ginny, gently rubbing her back. Once the food stopped coming up, Ginny collapsed in her mother's arms. Her stomach surprised her most of the time. When Ginny thought there wasn't anything in there, it always found something to push back up.

"Ginny, what's wrong?" Hermione asked as she rushed over to her friend. Clinging to her mother with all the strength she had, Ginny stared sadly at Hermione. Tears started to drip out of her eyes as she began to sob into her mother's shoulder.

"Come now child, don't cry," Mrs. Weasley cooed, "It's going to be all right." Motioning for Hermione to help her, the two managed to get Ginny to the couch in the front room. Fleur had been one step ahead of the two and had taken the honor of setting up the couch.

"What's wrong?" asked Hermione as Ginny lay down on the couch. Her tears were steadily slowing but her breath was still coming in short gasps.

"Fleur, come with me," commanded Mrs. Weasley in a gentle tone. Bill's wife obediently followed her mother in law out of the room, leaving Hermione to talk with Ginny.

"Come, Ginny, what's got you so upset that you haven't been able to eat?" Hermione asked once again. Ginny just sat on the couch hiccupping as she tried to regain her breath so she could answer.

"It's going to happen today," gasped Ginny between breaths. Confused, Hermione looked at her friend, taking time to think her answer over.

"What's going to happen?" Mrs. Weasley asked as she walked back into the room with a vile of a potion. Fleur wasn't with her, as she had been sent to do something else.

"They're all going to die!" sobbed Ginny as she broke out into tears again. Mrs. Weasley pressed to potion into Ginny's hands, helping her lift it to her mouth and swallow it. It took a few minutes for the potion to kick in, but it left Ginny sleeping peacefully.

* * *

The sun was now at it's peak, and steadily falling, leaving the sky open for the moon to take its place. The inside of Hogwarts was now a mess of blood and mangled bodies. There was a mixture of dead and injured, those loyal to the Dark Lord and those who despised him.

Harry Potter was currently in the thick of it all. The central group of the Resistance was slowly making its way to the headmaster's chamber where Voldemort was hiding out. The self-proclaimed Dark Lord had yet to show his face in the battle. He'd let his minions do all the work for him, so he wouldn't have the chance of being injured before he was needed. That was just being a coward in Harry's eyes.

Surveying his surroundings, Harry tried to think where his fellow fighters were. Remus and Sirius had turned back only an hour ago to detour the reinforcements that come to help Voldemort. With them was a group of mainly Aurors, and of course a few of the older Weasleys.

"You've finally come to meet your doom, Potter," Voldemort snarled as he stepped out of the shadows. Lost in his thoughts, Harry had not realized that the Death Eaters and loyal students had disappeared. With the flick of his wrist, Voldemort closed and locked the door behind him.

"Scared to give me another change to come back and kick your sorry ass, Tom?" mocked Harry as he tossed his cloak off. The cloak had just been to confuse the Death Eaters, and it had worked since most of them had managed to kill a few of their fellow fighters.

"Perhaps I should have left it open so you could run away like the little coward you are," rasped Voldemort.

"You're wrong, Tom," laughed Harry, "I never run away from a challenge."

"Well then, get ready to die! _Avada Kedavra_," Vodlemort snarled. Harry managed to jump into a roll just in time to dodge the killing curse.

He responded with a few curses of his own, which Voldemort easily deflected with a shielding spell. Harry wasn't discouraged that his first few spells had been easily blocked; after all, they were just simple hexes at the most.

The two fired curses and hexes at each other, both blocking the spells with ease. Although Voldemort was a more seasoned fighter, Harry made up for it with his naturally agility and remarkable aim. As the fight progressed, the sun slipped from the sky, leaving all but its faint glow.

"I'm through with games," Voldemort snarled, "Ready to die?"

"Tom, you asked me that before," responded Harry, "Shouldn't you be asking that to yourself?"

"You're too overconfident," sneered Voldemort. He took the time to prepare what he thought would be his last curse he would have to fire at the boy, when the boy seemingly vanished. "Potter, were are you now? Run away from me? Scared, boy? You should be," Voldemort taunted as he kept turning around.

"It's you who should be scared," Harry taunted. Voldemort looked up to the ceiling where there was put a single chandelier. It was the only place that he had neglected to check. "Should look up more often. _Avada Kedavra!_"

It then all happened in slow motion. The spell flew from his wand and sailed towards Voldemort. In panic, Voldemort sent one more spell towards Harry. Dust quickly filled the room as the chandelier fell down on top of Voldemort, who was slowly crumpling to the ground. With the chandelier down, the roof of the room started to give out as it too fell. When the dust settled there was just a large pile of rocks in the room.

* * *

"Do you think she'll be alright?" Hermione asked as she looked over at her sleeping friend. Mrs. Weasley had assured Hermione that Ginny had just been giving a Calming Draught and a Dreamless Sleep Potion. It would be within the next few minutes before she woke up.

Ginny started to fidget as the potions wore off. Mrs. Weasley was quickly at her daughter's side.

"Mum?" Ginny moaned.

"Yes dear?"

"What time is it?"

"About eight at night. The Dreamless Sleep Potion kept you sleeping for about ten hours, not that I liked it, but it was the only dose strong enough to put you out so you could calm down." Ginny nodded as she looked around the room. Fleur had drifted off in a lumpy armchair while Hermione was sitting on the floor, flipping through a Muggle wedding magazine.

"Ginny?" Hermione asked, "Who is going to die?" With guilt written all over her face, Ginny looked down at the floor.

"Dead," Ginny corrected, "They should all be dead by now." Realization dawned Mrs. Weasley's face. All of her sons were unaccounted for.

"Ginny, do you know where they are?" Mrs. Weasley asked slowly. Earlier in the day she wasn't bothered by the fact none of her sons were around. The twins had taken Ron somewhere last night and had said they might not be back until later. Not that they had defined later.

"Hogwarts."

"Why would they be at Hogwarts?" Hermione asked.

"Harry was going to try to bring down Voldemort today," Ginny said sadly. Her mother broke into tears, worrying over where all her children could be. She'd been too preoccupied with the wedding to worry as she normally did about her sons. There was a soft pop that no one heard over the crying of Mrs. Weasley.

"Mum?" Bill asked as he walked into the room. His clothes were torn and bloody from the battle he had been in, and he wasn't without a few scratches.

As soon as Mrs. Weasley saw her oldest son, she gathered in him in a hug, still sobbing. Fleur woke up to see a hysterical Mrs. Weasley embracing her eldest boy.

"Mum, control yourself! We're all alright," Bill gasped as his mother's hug was depriving him of air. Getting the point, Mrs. Weasley let go of her eldest child. "The twins and Ron are at St. Mungo's for a few nasty cuts they received. The healers said they'd be fine. Dad is doing something for the Ministry, as Fudge is being removed from his post tonight. Percy is in the spell damage unit, with healers working on him when I left."

"How's Harry?" Ginny asked. Hermione's eyes asked the same question.

"He'll be alright," sighed Bill, "Casting the killing curse took a lot out of him. He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named is finally gone though. And with it, so are all the slave laws."

"Does that mean I'm still held to my obligation to marriage?" Hermione asked. She was rather excited about the thought of a wedding, but nervous for she didn't know whom she would be married to.

"If you'll still have Ron, that is," Bill chuckled. Blushing, Hermione nodded. She was rather smitten with Ron, as he was she, but neither of them had admitted it to the other. "Well then, I'm sure he'll be glad to hear that. And Mum will be happy to plan the wedding." With tears of joy running down her face, Mrs. Weasley engulfed Bill in another hug.

"I'm going to get another daughter!" proclaimed Mrs. Weasley, letting go of Bill.

Fleur gave him a quick peck on the cheek before starting to yell at him in French. As the yelling went on, a faint blush crept into Bill's cheek and kept getting darker. After a few moments of being yelled at, he silenced his wife by kissing her on the lips.

"Well, Mum, I should be getting back to St. Mungo's. Then I'm going to pick up Jake from Gabby's. I'm sure Gabby's had enough of the little bugger for one day," Bill said as he gave his mother one more hug. Before Mrs. Weasley could object, Bill was gone.

Mrs. Weasley dried her eyes as she walked out of the room mumbling that something needed to be cleaned.

"So you knew?" Hermione asked. Ginny nodded as her stomach grumbled. On the coffee table there was a small plate with some toast on it. Without thinking, Ginny took a piece of toast and started to nibble on it.

"He made me promise not to tell anyone else," confirmed Ginny, "I wasn't going to betray Harry. Mum would have found them all and scolded them before they could do anything."

"You like Harry, don't you?" Hermione asked as she closed the magazine she'd been looking at. Blushing, Ginny nodded. It was useless to hide her feelings from Hermione. "So, mind telling me what exactly you did with the boy that has your eldest brother shooting you disapproving looks?"

"Mind?" snorted Ginny, "I greatly mind, but to make you happy. We did't have sex, but it wasn't as innocent as kissing." Hermione glared at her friend as she got what Ginny had been hinting at.

"Scarlet woman," Hermione mumbled under her breath. Ginny threw a piece of toast at her friend. Not to be outdone by her friend, Hermione threw the toast back at her, starting a small war of flying toast between the two.

A/N Thanks to all for reviewing. I couldn't remember whom I replied to and whom I didn't when the wonderful bug appeared in ffnet. Hopefully you all liked this chapter. And any suggestions of where to go next are appreciated. I've got a vague idea, but I'd like to see where you all would like me to take this.


	13. Chapter 13

_Disclaimer_: Once upon a time I was not a poor college student. But that doesn't mean I could afford to buy Harry Potter from Rowling. The books might have been better.

Chapter Thirteen

_Wedding Nights_

The Burrow was in a flurry of activity for being five in the morning. However it wasn't just any other morning for its occupants. Cleaning had been done inside and out so that the house shined and the gardens were free of gnomes and Mrs. Weasley was hurrying around the kitchen as she had been for the past hour in attempt to get food ready.

Ginny had unceremoniously been woken up by her darling twin brothers, who had poured ice cold water over her when she had refused to get up. Needless to say, they were both nursing some very nasty hexes at the moment.

"Mum? Need any help?" Ginny grumbled as she plopped herself down at the kitchen table. Surrendering to her tiredness, she rested her head down on it.

"Now, Ginny dear, the wedding is in six hours. This place needs to be perfect! We still need to get the chairs set up outside, and the tables, not to mention the food," scolded Mrs. Weasley. Shrugging her mother off, she was not expecting cold hands on her upper thigh. With a slight shriek Ginny jumped up from the chair to see a little boy standing close to the chair with his eyes widened in surprise.

"Oh, Jake is here," Mrs. Weasley said, "If you could watch him, I'd appreciate it. Fleur and Bill said they'd take care of the altar like settings, and I'm sure you won't mind getting to know your nephew."

Ginny nodded as she looked down at her nephew. Like the rest of his father's side of the family, he had red hair, only his was more of a strawberry blond. He had inherited Bill's crystal clear blue eyes too.

"Up?"

Jake reached his arms towards Ginny to illustrate what he wanted. Not needing to be asked twice, she bent down and picked him up.

"What do you say we take a nap?" Ginny asked. She still wanted to get back to sleep and if all she really needed to do was watch her nephew it wouldn't be that hard to con the little tyke to go to sleep for at least another hour.

"No nap!" Jake announced as he pouted at the idea.

"Come on, kid. You sleep, I get to sleep, it's a win-win situation. You don't have to deal with a grumpy Aunt Ginny for the rest of the day," reasoned Ginny. Jake shook his head and frowned, still not liking the idea. "Well, you can't say I didn't try."

"Ginny dear, Ron's bride will be here at seven. You'll be helping her get ready and talking her through the ceremony. Family will start arriving at nine to finish up some last minute preparations, and other guests will be here around ten or so," informed Mrs. Weasley, "In the mean time keep Jake out of the kitchen. He likes to try and help."

"Alrighty, Mum," Ginny yawned. Leaving her mother to the cooking, Ginny bounced Jake on her hip as she meandered back up to her room. She breezed by Fred and Geroge, who were on their way down the stairs, receiving glares from both of them from the hexes they received earlier.

As she got up to her room, Ginny set Jake down on her small bed and went to her closet. Somewhere in its depths were toys that Jake could play with without being turned odd colors.

After a moment of searching, Ginny found some old wooden blocks and a few stuffed animals for Jake to play with. The wooden blocks had been Bill's when he was little, and were passed down from child to child. Bill had told Ginny that when she was young she'd throw the blocks at people who annoyed her, and the twins were mainly the ones who got nailed.

Jake smiled as Ginny presented him with the toys. He immediately took to throwing the blocks off the bed, even after Ginny returned them for him. It only took until Ginny stopped giving the blocks back that he went to playing with the stuffed animals. He threw the toy snake off the bed and went to playing with a stuffed hippogriff.

Before Ginny knew it, Fleur was knocking on the door. Happy to see his mother, Jake squealed and extended his arms towards her. Fleur picked up her son, who was securely holding on to the stuffed hippogriff.

"You're muzzer wantz you downztairz," Fleur said slowly. Ginny nodded before she gave Jake a kiss on the cheek and rushed to go see what her mother needed.

In the kitchen, Mrs. Weasley was busy fussing over a girl, who had her back turned towards the staircase. The girl, or rather woman, had a scarf tied over her hair and was nodding her head to whatever Mrs. Weasley was instructing to her.

"Fleur said you needed to see me?" Ginny asked as she came into the kitchen.

"Ginny?" the girl said as she turned around. Surprisingly Ginny came face to face with a very nervous looking Hermione.

"You're who my brother is going to marry?" Ginny said just above a whisper. Hermione looked at the floor and nodded.

"There is nothing to be afraid of, dear. Ron's a good boy," assured Mrs. Weasley, "Now Ginny, if you could help Hermione here to get dressed and soothe her nerves... Take her up to your room. Ron should be back here shortly."

Taking Hermione's arm, Ginny tugged her upstairs. Hermione was shaking rather badly as Ginny got to her room, and she was starting to tear up, too.

"Don't mind all the baby toys, I was watching my nephew," Ginny explained as she gently shoved the blocks out of the way and made a path to her bed. Hermione nodded as she automatically followed behind Ginny. Ginny helped Hermione to sit down on the bed while she closed her door, finding Hermione's dress on the back of it.

Hermione had taken off the scarf over her head to reveal her chestnut brown hair, which had been put up into an elegant bun with a few pieces wisping out of it. Her eyes had a dormant look to them as she fussed with the engagement ring on her left hand.

"This is an awful idea!" Hermione announced as she broke down into tears. Slightly surprised by her friend's outburst, Ginny sat down on the bed and rubbed Hermione's back.

"It's not an awful idea," responded Ginny, "After all, Ron is a fairly nice bloke, and you get to be related to me."

"But I'm going to make a horrible wife!" sobbed Hermione, "I don't know a single thing about being a good wife, or raising children. And what happens if he's not happy with how I perform in bed?"

"Woah, a little bit too much information there, Hermione," Ginny interjected, "First off, you basically ran the Malfoy household while I was there. And as bad as it is to compare married life to that hell, it kinda is like that, just without the beatings and lack of essentials. If you survived living with one of the worst wizarding families for years, you can survive Ron. After all, I think he rather fancies you."

"You have a point," Hermione sniffled, "But what am I going to do about the whole sleeping with him part? I don't have any knowledge about that. When I had my first monthly bleeding, I was so clueless! I thought I was dying."

"Hermione dear, you are going to do fine. But please, please, please, do not bring up the topic of my brother in bed ever again. It's rather disturbing to think about," Ginny requested. Hermione wiped the tears out of her eyes and gave a slight smile as she nodded at Ginny. "Good. Now let's get you in that dress of yours."

* * *

Getting Hermione dressed and calming her nerves had taken to the time of the ceremony. And even then she wasn't what you'd call calm, but that's what one would expect from a bride in any marriage.

The ceremony was short and simple, as it usually was in wizarding ceremonies. The wedding was different from what Hermione had described Muggle ceremonies to be like. Wizarding weddings were more of a blood bonding, and divorce wasn't an option. Death was the only thing that could end a marriage, and it was often the murder of a spouse that happened. Like the Muggle wedding, it ended with a kiss.

Ginny was sitting with Fred and George during the reception as she sipped firewhiskey. Ron's face was currently as red as his hair as Hermione was whispering something to him. Draining the glass, Ginny knew that her brother and Hermione would survive the marriage.

"Shall we take bets on when Mum and Dad get their next grandchild?" Fred suggested.

"I say give them three to four months to announce that Hermione is pregnant," chuckled George, "Now, Ginny, when are you getting hitched?"

"My dear brother, I think you overlook the fact that both you and your twin are older than I am. When are _you_ getting married?" sniped Ginny. She had just managed to finish her first glass of firewhiskey, and it wasn't anything that Ginny wanted seconds of.

"She holds her alcohol well," Bill said as he came by with his son. Smiling, Ginny reached out to take her nephew. The twins glared at her, highly disappointed that they couldn't get information out of her.

Leaving her brothers to argue over trivial things, Ginny began to wander amongst the guests. Her mum had gone almost overboard with the guests. Hermione herself didn't have any living relatives that she cared to invite, so Mrs. Weasley had compensated by inviting just about everyone that Ron had ever met.

"So, Miss Weasley, gone and had yourself a child?" a voice from behind Ginny teased. Turning around Ginny saw the Potter family. Anna and Emma were busy talking with Collin Creevy and his brother. Harry was busy with staring at his drink while his parents talked to Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, and Nyphadora Tonks.

"Mr. Potter, good to see you all," Ginny said happily, "And this would be my nephew Jake." Jake looked at the table wearily before deciding to be shy and resting his head on Ginny's shoulder.

"Which brother?" Mrs. Potter asked as she motioned for Ginny to sit down.

"Bill. He's the oldest, currently over in that direction talking with the twins," Ginny motioned. Mrs. Potter nodded as she gave a wave to Bill.

"He's such a cute kid," Tonks commented cheerfully.

"Whatever you do, don't let her hold the boy," Sirius instructed, "She'll drop him."

"Sirius!"

"What? You will."

"He's right," Remus commented, "You drop everything. Lletting you have a living, breathing thing is not a good idea." Tonks glared at the werewolf and pouted slightly.

"Jake," Ginny said sweetly, "Will you let Miss Tonks here hold you?" Jake turned his head to look at who Ginny was talking about. For a moment he looked at the metamorphagus, who had turned her hair a bubble gum pink. Shyly he nodded before trying to disappear into Ginny's shoulder again.

Carefully prying Jake from her shoulder, Ginny handed him to Tonks. Both Remus and Sirius winced as Tonks was handed the child. They didn't have to worry as Jake giggled, reaching out for Tonks's odd colored hair.

"I think he likes you," observed Ginny. Tonks stuck her tongue out at her cousin as she sat the little boy down on her lap. Copying the motion, Jake tried to do the same, but instead drool just dribbled out of his mouth.

"Is it all right if your nephew stays with Tonks for a bit?" Harry piped up. He was looking up from his drink but his eyes didn't hold very much expression to them.

"I suppose so. If Fleur gets upset, it's you're head, not mine," reasoned Ginny, "That is, if Tonks wants to hold on to him for a bit."

"It won't be a problem," Tonks smiled. Turning to Remus she continued, "Now wouldn't it be nice if we had a little one of our own?"

Snickering, Ginny let Harry gently grab her wrist and lead her out of the crowded reception setting out to the gardens. With the silence around them, Ginny took a good look over at Harry. He'd lost weight since she'd saw him last. His eyes had lost most of their sparkle, and Harry just seemed overall depressed.

"What did you wish to talk to me about?" Ginny asked as Harry finally stopped. It was the middle of the garden that had taken her the most time to weed and prune. There were rose bushes surrounding them, a few of red, yellow, and white were blossoming, all perfuming the night air.

"About us," sighed Harry, "I like you Gin, I like you a lot. But where do you see this going?"

"Our relationship?" Harry nodded. "Well, if we can work everything out and get to know each other a bit better, then possibly into a sexual relationship. But that's not what I want. I'd like to get to know you _and_ spend time with you, but not in bed," Ginny answered, "I mean, I liked what we did, but, um… I'm not ready to do anything more than that. Should have really just stuck to kissing."

"I don't think that's possible."

"And why not?" demanded Ginny, "We can both admit we have feelings for each other can we not?"

"It's not that. It's just, just that with me defeating Voldemort, there is no more purpose in my life," Harry sighed. He sat down on an old stone bench by the red rose bushes, cradling his head in his hands. "What else is there for me? Friends and family sure, but why am I here, what purpose does my life serve? It's all meaningless, Ginny."

"It's not meaningless!" snapped Ginny, "If you die, what will I do? You can't bloody kill yourself, Harry. I spent months throwing up, not because I was pregnant, but because I was so worried about you. I know it's going to be hard facing the world now that your purpose seems to be gone, but find another direction to take your life in. You could get any job that you wished for and probably succeed. Whatever you do, don't give up, because I don't think I could deal without you."

"It's not that easy!" Harry growled, frustrated. He turned around to snap a rose off one of the bushes, being careful not to prick himself.

"I never said it was going to be. If you're willing to push through this dry spell, then I'm willing to stand by you all the way. I don't care what happens to you, I'd just like it if you would let me help you through this," Ginny said tearfully. Smiling slightly, Harry nodded. Confused at his nod, Ginny poked his shoulder, wanting a further explanation.

"Let's get back to the party before my parents start drawing conclusions," Harry suggested. Leaning over, he gave her a soft hiss on the cheek while handing her the rose he had plucked.

Chuckling, Ginny took his hand as they walked back to the reception area. Harry had gone back to chat with his parents, who were now talking to Dumbledore, while Ginny headed to talk with Ron and Hermione.

"Ginny!" Hermione squealed as she hugged her friend, "We saw you go outside with Harry. What happened?" Ron looked over from talking with Neville to catch his sister's answer.

"We were shagging like bunnies," Ginny responded tartly, "We were talking." Pointing to the rose, Hermione seemed to be hinting that just talking wouldn't end with a rose. "Oh, the flower. Yeah, Harry picked it off one of the bushes in the garden."

"I'm sure he handed you the yellow rose with a red tip without thinking," teased Hermione. Ron looked from the rose to his sister before shrugging and turning his full attention to Neville.

"Who knows," Ginny sighed, "Have fun on your honeymoon, though." Hermione smiled as she pulled her sister in law into a hug. Ginny walked off to mingle with more guests before she could be stopped to talk by her mother. If anything, she'd be scolded for missing someone of importance, which was not a good thing since her mother was still slightly stressed from the amount of people present.

A/N So sorry this took so long to get out! My classes are crazy and they kinda drain my writing ideas. The past couple weeks I've had to get an essay done for my English class, then CAD homework. Not to mention I joined a sorority and I have meetings to go to for that. It's been crazy. Look for an update for my other story sometime soon. And hopefully this one won't take three weeks to update again!


	14. Chapter 14

_Disclaimer_: Still a poor college student with little in my wallet. Harry Potter is not mine.

Chapter 14

The owl from Hermione and Ron had just come an hour ago, saying they had arrived safely in their new house after a two-week stay in France. Ginny stood in front of the mirror trying to get one last strand of hair to curl. Tonight was her first formal date with Harry, or as the invitation had said, beginning the period of courting. She was tickled pink that Harry had sent her the invitation, she missed talking to him. Being home was wonderful, but there was a small ache in not being able to tease Harry constantly. The two of them had been going out for two months solid after Hermione and Ron had gotten married. Their trip to France was so that Hermione could get some potions ingredients, or so they claimed.

Glaring at her strand of hair that wouldn't curl, she tossed it out of her face, putting the final touch on her outfit. The necklace she had received from Harry accented her dark blue dress nicely. Slipping into a pair of shoes, Ginny dashed down the stairs.

"You heading out, Ginny?" Mrs. Weasley asked as she eyed her daughter. Stopping, Ginny sighed as she walked over to her mother. Her brothers were frequently let out of the house without a question, but being the youngest and only girl had the downside of being interrogated.

"Yes, mother," Ginny sighed. Her mother gave her a glare before looking her over to make sure the attire was appropriate for the evening.

"You're all dressed up."

"Mum, I'm going on a date with Harry. He told me to dress up. Do you expect me to wear a potato sack?" exasperated Ginny, eager to get going. Letting a gasp out, Mrs. Weasley gave her daughter a hard whack on the bum with her wooden spoon. "I'll be good I promise."

"You better be," Mrs. Weasley grumbled, "I don't want any grandchildren born out of wedlock from you. Or from the twins for that matter, heavens knows where those two are…" Giving her mother a quick kiss on the cheek, Ginny left the house before she could receive the hour long lecture on being a lady.

Once in the yard, Ginny whisked out her wand. Quickly, she made a mirror appear to check her make up one last time. Vanishing that, she apparated to the Potter Mansion where Harry was residing at.

When the smoke cleared, Ginny was at the front door of the Potter Mansion. The place was an architect's delight. Pure white ivory graced ivy graced the marble stone of the Corinthian columns. The whole house appeared to be made of some type of marble. The garden around of the grounds was purely amazing, plants of every kind were around the building.

Before she could knock on the door, Harry stepped out of his house dressed in black dress robes. He had a smirk on his face as he greeted Ginny with a kiss.

"Where are we going?" Ginny asked. She had been told to dress in her best. Her best dress robes were a soft gold color, hugging her in all the right places.

"Maybe I'll tell you, and maybe I'll just show you," Harry answered coyly. Quickly he grabbed Ginny around the waste and with a pop disapparated from his porch.

Highly surprised from being grabbed, it took a moment for Ginny's world to stop spinning as they arrived at their destination. Letting loose a squeal, Ginny was quick to recognize the restaurant, _The Silver Spoon_ was a very hard place to get into. It was in Muggle London, frequented by wizards and Muggles alike.

"I take it that _The Silver Spoon_ meets your fancy then?" Harry chuckled as he led Ginny inside the restaurant. Flashing something at the hostess he led Ginny through the restaurant. Vines snaked their ways across the walls on which various paintings were hung. Muggles didn't notice the slow moving ivy and if they did, they thought it was all a fancy trick with electronics. The wizarding world was permitted to go up the spiral staircase that was in the back of the restaurant, the spirals twisted slowly and an illusion charm was cast on it so no one noticed who went up it.

Admiring all the interior of the place, Ginny didn't notice Harry stopping and pulling her into a seat. Harry had led the two to a small booth in the back of _The Silver Spoon_ that would leave the two with a large amount of privacy.

"This place is amazing!" gasped Ginny. Harry gave her a lopsided smile as he picked up her menu. "You recommend anything?" She asked as she skimmed over the large menu.

"How well do you trust me?" inquired Harry.

"Enough to let you order diner for me," Ginny responded as a light blush crept into her cheeks. She put down her menu as Harry waved over a waiter. The young female smiled as she saw Harry and took the menus without asking any questions.

Raising her eyebrow from the lack of communication that the girl gave, Ginny looked to Harry for an answer.

"Brianne normally serves me when I come here. Her cousin owns the place," Harry explained.

"You know the owner?" asked Ginny.

"Yep, Katie Bell. She went to Hogwarts for a while, hung out with your brothers. But yes, she owns this restaurant, I highly doubt she's here cooking tonight," laughed Harry. Ginny nodded as she vaguely remembered hearing about Katie from the twins.

Ginny nodded as Brianne came back with two house salads. She had two different kinds of dressing with her, too. Without a word she placed the salads and dressing down and went to tend to another table.

"Bree, do me a favor and bring out a bottle of wine," Harry requested. Bree smiled as she nodded and quickly walked away.

"She doesn't talk much, does she?" asked Ginny. She speared a tomato as she looked to Harry for an answer.

"Bree doesn't like to speak English all that much," Harry responded, "She was raised in the Ukraine and doesn't like her accent. Katie allows her wait on people who come here often and know that she doesn't like to talk. Sometimes she'll talk to new people, but that isn't often." Returning to her salad, Ginny nodded. "Any other questions?"

Ginny shook her head once again, spearing a cucumber with her fork. Her brothers had always said it looked like she was attacking her salad rather than eating it. Then again, they weren't ones to talk about table manners.

"How did you end up getting all of us slaves free?" Ginny asked abruptly. Her eyes fluttered up as Harry started to cough. Apparently he'd been chewing a rather large piece of lettuce and it was now stuck in his throat.

Once his windpipe was clear and he had a drink of water, Harry answered, "Well, in truth, Voldemort was holding control of the Ministry. All the spells and laws about Muggleborns being forced to serve purebloods and such were his doing. By killing him, all the spells lost their power. Fudge, being the coward he is, didn't want to renew the spells. Mind you, he could have and kept a lot of people in servitude. I think it had something to do with your brothers threatening him over something."

"Oh," Ginny answered returning her attention to her almost empty salad plate. "Thanks."

"All in a day's work," joked Harry. Rolling her eyes, Ginny gave him a swift kick under the table that left him cursing silently in pain.

Afondgogoeiuosogoij

Brianne had ended up bringing the two roasted lamb with potatoes and a bottle of complimentary wine. Ginny had to admit the food was to die for at _The Silver Spoon_ and could clearly see why people had a hard time getting in. At the current moment, she was starting to get a buzz from the wine, but pushed that thought off as she wasn't worried about anything happening. After all, it was just wine.

"Enjoy your dinner?" Harry asked as he finished up his last bit of lamb. Wiping off a bit of the wine from her lips, Ginny nodded.

"That was heavenly. How did you find this place?" Ginny said. Harry shrugged as his cheeks flushed. He was fidgeting a bit more then he had been before and during the meal and Ginny was starting to get tired of it.

"Pure luck," muttered Harry. Raising his eyes to hers, he flushed even lighter. "Ginny… I was wondering if you'd…. give me the honor of… promising me your…hand in… marriage?"

"Wait, what!" Ginny snapped as she tried to process the broken sentence. She got the gist Harry wasn't proposing, but he was coming close to it. Taking a deep breath, Harry locked eyes with Ginny.

"I wanted to give you a promise ring. With the promise you'll wait until we're both ready to get married. I don't want to lose you and I am going to France for two years," Harry said softly.

Gasping, Ginny's eyes started to water. Without giving Harry an answer, she got up and embraced him.

"I take that as a very enthusastic yes," wheezed Harry. Ginny nodded as she squeezed him harder. "Gin, I can't breath so well. Can you let go?" Taking a step back from Harry, Ginny brushed the falling tears out of her eyes. She was gasping for breath, and trying to stay calm.

Giving her a light kiss, Harry put a few galleons down on the table, embracing Ginny. With a small pop, the two disappeared from _The Silver Spoon_.

The pair appeared in the front room of Harry's house. He'd moved away from his parents shortly after he defeated the Dark Lord. It was clear from the barren look of the interior of the house that it was just Harry who lived there. The furniture wasn't matching in the least, but at least it was better than nothing.

"I see Emma and Anna helped with the decorating," Ginny sniffed as she pointed to a few random splatters of colored paint. The twins were adamant about helping their brother decorate; they claimed he was like any male without knowledge of how to decorate. They were right in a way, but their way of decorating did nothing for the majestic house.

Harry laughed as he pulled her in for a kiss. Ginny responded eagerly, letting her emotions go with the wine and what was happening at the moment. Dropping her clutch by the door, Ginny ran her hands through Harry's unruly hair, encouraging him to deepen the kiss. He responded by not only doing that, but by running his hands from Ginny's chest down to her hips.

The two slowly made their way to Harry's bedroom before they knew it, taking gasps of breath in-between their heated kisses.

uovbjouenog

"Ginny?" Harry whispered softly. Ginny moaned softly as she pulled the blanket over her head. It was early morning and she was drained from the night's activities. The pair had ended up moving from the front room to Harry's room in the matter of half an hour. With all the waiting to get to the bed, the reward was well worth it.

"What?" whined Ginny. Laughing, Harry pulled Ginny up against him. Not complaining, Ginny closed her eyes and prepared to fall asleep. They'd both kept each other up until the early hours of the morning letting their need for each other to overrule the fact they were tired.

"I'm going to be leaving England for a bit," Harry said. Tensing, Ginny wasn't entirely sure she had heard him right. She had vaguely remembered him saying he was going to leave for France but now it just sounded more real. "I'm leaving the country to travel a bit. After the whole battle with Voldemort and the reaction I'm gettin, I think it's best that I get away from it all before it gets to my head."

"What about me?" Ginny asked softly. "And after what happened how can you say that!"

"You do realize I gave you a promise ring, don't you?" murmured Harry, "There is no way I'm going to leave you. When I come back, I fully intend to marry you. I wasn't expecting this to happen tonight. Not that I regret it at all. Whatever you do, don't give up on me." Harry placed a kiss on the top of Ginny's head as he relaxed. Satisfied with the answer, Ginny drifted off into a well-needed sleep.

Harry, on the other hand, was left awake, his arms firmly around Ginny. He didn't want to let sleep overcome him quite yet, he was enjoying listening to his lover's shallow breaths as she was sleeping. If Ginny's brothers ever found out what had happened, he'd be as good as dead, whether Ginny had a say in it or not. After a few moments of laying down, Harry succumbed to sleep.

Dofjoguonlvndogj

Ginny stumbled into the kitchen of the Burrow. The night before was one Ginny was never going to forget, even though the wine had helped it along. She was sore from what she had done with Harry, and very grateful he allowed her to shower before she came home.

"Giverva Molly Weasley, do you have any idea what time it is?" Mrs. Weasley demanded as she looked up from her knitting. Ginny grinned sheepishly as her mother stood up. Like any good mother, Mrs. Weasley had stayed up waiting for her daughter to come home from her date. From the looks of it, Mrs. Weasley had nodded off a few times in the night, but she still wasn't happy that her daughter hadn't made it home last night.

"Harry and I got back from dinner late Mum," sighed Ginny, "I didn't want to wake anyone up when I got home because I was a bit tipsy, so Harry let me stay at his house for the night. Don't worry he was a complete gentleman and let me sleep on his bed while he took the couch on the ground level of the house." Scowling at her daughter, Mrs. Weasley looked her over. Not seeing anything amiss, she nodded as she turned her attention back to the kitchen.

Letting out the breath she had been holding, Ginny made her way up to her room. What she told her mother wasn't that far off from the truth, and she had omitted some details, but she wasn't going to be completely honest with her. After all, her mother wouldn't have taken the news she'd slept with Harry well at all, even if she did want grandchildren.

Looking at the time, Ginny decided she had time to go over her notes for the test her job required. If she had any chance to pass the test, she'd need to get some time in to study. Even though she had a few months it never hurt to start, there was a lot of information to go over.

A/N So sorry it took me so long to update! Solely my fault! Second semester of college nearly killed me. Grades were not looking too good for the longest while and I had a lot of stuff to do for my sorority. But school is over for the summer, and I know where I want to go with this story. Expect updates every few weeks or so as opposed to every few months.  Though, I am going to summer school and working full time. No rest for me. But don't worry, you'll get your updates. Thanks to all who reviewed and were convinced I hadn't died yet.


End file.
